Police: Levee protecting Mo. town holds overnight

Published 9:39 am Tuesday, April 26, 2011

Police say a levee protecting a southeast Missouri town from major flooding held up overnight and that they’re keeping a close eye on areas where water is spilling over the structure.

Poplar Bluff deputy police chief Jeff Rolland (ROH’-lind) said early Tuesday that the Black River overran the levee in about 30 locations between Poplar Bluff and the nearby town of Qulin (KWIL’-in.)

Rolland says crews rescued 59 people in 1 1/2 hours late Monday after water spilled over the dam and inundated a section of Poplar Bluff.

Some 1,000 homes have been evacuated in the area. No deaths or serious injuries have been reported and the town’s commercial district is not threatened.

Poplar Bluff has about 17,000 residents and is 130 miles south of St. Louis.