BREAKING NEWS

An SMT News Report

SIKESTON, Mo. - The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is taking the final steps to activating the Birds Point New Madrid levee in Mississippi County. For the second time on Sunday afternoon, the Corps has taken a step in the activation process.

However, the officer in charge says that decision has still yet to be made.

Maj. Gen. Michael Walsh ordered crews on Sunday afternoon to move barges loaded with 250 tons of explosives across into position on the levey and to load the pipes with the explosive agent.

The final step would be to activate the floodway, which would send Mississippi River floodwaters through the breach in the levee and through the 130,000-acre floodway.

"The final decision to activate the floodway has not been made. Repeat - has not been made," the corps said in a release.