Floods in the Midwest Today: Flood Leaves 4 Dead as Water Rises to Historic Levels in Multiple States

The latest series of floods in the Midwest has left at least four dead, closed hundreds of roads and forced residents of endangered cities to erect threatened dikes with sandbags. In some communities, the waters reach historical levels.

The National Weather Service issued Friday flood warnings over much of the Mississippi River, as well as flash flood alerts for parts of Missouri, Arkansas, the United States, the United States, and the United States. Oklahoma and Texas after heavy rains.

"Do not drive or walk through areas where water covers the roadway!" the service warned. "The water can be deeper than it looks, remember … Turn around, do not drown!"

In southwestern Missouri, the authorities are looking for a paddler whose kayak is overturned in a flooded creek, one day after finding the body of his friend, Alex Ekern, 23 years old. They were one of three men who began paddling on Wednesday afternoon on Bull Creek, near the small town of Walnut Shade, after being swept by a bridge at sea.

The Missouri State Highway Road Patrol stated that one of the kayakers had eventually been driven downhill, had climbed a steep bank and asked for help.

The floods also claimed the life of a camper who was found Wednesday after being caught in the waters of an overflowing stream near the city of Ava, also in southwestern Missouri. And in northeastern Indiana, a 2-year-old was killed when his mother took a flooded road.

Friday afternoon, the Mississippi River was closed to all shipping traffic in St. Louis. The US coastguard closed the river for five kilometers, invoking not only the extremely high waters, but also the fast current.

The river is already over 8 feet above the flood level in St. Louis and is expected to increase another 4 feet by Monday.

The closure of river traffic in one of the largest Mississippi cities is a blow to the trade because many goods are shipped on barges along the river.

Mississippi is not the only river that overflows its banks. Moderate floods in Missouri River towns such as Washington and St. Charles, Missouri have caused headaches, such as road closures, but few homes have been affected.