![\"Flooding](\"http:\/\/ichef-1.bbci.co.uk\/news\/660\/cpsprodpb\/38F5\/production\/_87418541_030726558.jpg\")
Image\u00a0<\/span>Reuters —\u00a0Buildings and roads in Union, Missouri, have been hit by flooding from the Bourbeuse River<\/span><\/span>A five-mile (8km) section of the Mississippi River near St Louis, Missouri, has been closed to vessels as rising water levels caused “hazardous conditions”, the US Coast Guard said.<\/p>\n
Storms and tornadoes have lashed the region in recent days, swelling rivers and causing flash flooding.<\/p>\n
Missouri Governor Jay Nixon said 13 people in the state had died in the floods.<\/p>\n
He said the National Guard had been called in to help local authorities.<\/p>\n
Aerial footage showed water from the Mississippi River engulfing buildings in the evacuated town of West Alton, north of St Louis, on Tuesday.<\/p>\n
In the town of Union, about 50 miles (80km) west of St Louis, buildings were partly submerged by severe flooding from the Missouri, Meramec and Bourbeuse rivers.<\/p>\n Coast Guard spokesman Capt Martin Malloy said the high water levels and fast currents had led them to close the section of the Mississippi near St Louis – a busy route for commercial shipping.<\/p>\n River levels are forecast to peak on Thursday and Mr Nixon warned that the situation could get worse before it gets better.<\/p>\n He said the National Guard would provide security in evacuated areas and direct traffic away from closed roads.<\/p>\n “These citizen soldiers will provide much-needed support to state and local first responders, many of whom have spent the last several days working around the clock responding to record rainfall and flooding,” he said in a statement.<\/p>\n Nr Nixon added that three new flood-related deaths had been discovered on Tuesday, raising the death toll in the state since the storms began over the weekend to 13.<\/p>\n Many of the victims have been trapped in vehicles swept off flooded roads.<\/p>\n South-west of St Louis, a section of Interstate 44 was closed by flooding near the town of Rolla while part of Interstate 70 was also closed in the neighbouring state of Illinois.<\/p>\n Many other smaller roads were also closed across the two states, where flood warnings were in effect.<\/p>\n Floods also inundated a wastewater treatment plant south of St Louis on Monday, causing sewage to flow directly into rivers and streams.<\/p>\n The flooding in Missouri and southern Illinois began over the weekend after as much as 10ins (25cm) of rain fell in some areas in a matter of hours.<\/p>\n It came after severe storms over the Christmas holiday claimed at least 49 lives across southern and western states of the US.<\/p>\n Parts of eastern Oklahoma, Arkansas and Illinois are still subject to flood warnings.<\/p>\n BBC Image\u00a0Reuters —\u00a0Buildings and roads in Union, Missouri, have been hit by flooding from the Bourbeuse River A five-mile (8km) section of the Mississippi River near St Louis, Missouri, has been closed to vessels as rising water levels caused “hazardous … Continue reading ![\"Volunteers](\"http:\/\/ichef-1.bbci.co.uk\/news\/624\/cpsprodpb\/2C11\/production\/_87418211_030725740.jpg\")
Image <\/span>AP —\u00a0Volunteers in St Louis try to stop flooding from the River Des Peres, a channel that flows into the Mississippi River<\/span><\/span><\/figure>\n![\"Flooding](\"http:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/news\/624\/cpsprodpb\/C851\/production\/_87418215_030718767.jpg\")
Image <\/span>AP —\u00a0River levels in Missouri are still rising after weekend storms<\/span><\/span>![\"Map](\"http:\/\/ichef-1.bbci.co.uk\/news\/624\/cpsprodpb\/183D1\/production\/_87418299_usstlouis464.png\")
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\nhttp:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news\/world-us-canada-35196399<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"