Floodwaters breach levees

Floodwaters breached two levees in western Illinois on Wednesday and threatened more Mississippi River towns in Missouri after inundating much of Iowa for the past week. The breaches 45 miles south of Gulfport flooded farmland near the hamlet of Meyer and south of there in the Indian Graves levee district, Adams County Emergency Management Agency spokeswoman Julie Shepard said. Meyer, a town of 40 to 50 people, had to be evacuated, and authorities patrolled the town Wednesday morning to make sure no one was left behind, she said. Officials monitored levees in other Mississippi River towns in Illinois and Missouri in hopes that they would hold.