The St. Francis River at Fisk is expected to crest at a record 28 feet tonight and could maintain that elevation for as much as 36 hours, according to officials.
While Wappapello Lake crested Tuesday at 398.16 feet, high water continues to move downstream.
Another 2.5 to 4 inches of rain could also fall overnight, with the lake possibly seeing a new crest of 397.5 to 399 feet by Friday, according to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
The current high water continues to impact residents with flooded and damaged roadways, including sections of U.S. 60 near Fisk and a section of Highway T washed away below the lake's secondary spillway.
One eastbound lane on U.S. 60 near Fisk was closed this morning due to flooding, but residents near the town may not see damage to homes and property, said Butler County Emergency Management Agency Director Robbie Myers. Much of the community sits on high ground, he said.
"We're hopeful that Fisk will not get the brunt of this," Myers said.
The river had a record crest of 28 feet set in 1927.
An off-ramp for Highway 51 for Puxico also was closed this morning, but alternate routes are available.
There are no plans to close U.S. 60 at this time, said David Wyman of the Missouri Department of Transportation.
The Missouri National Guard began sandbagging operations at 1:30 a.m. Wednesday morning in an attempt to preserve at least one eastbound lane, Wyman said. MoDOT believed the 2.5 foot wall was needed because the river is expected to remain at record elevations for such a long period of time and the highway is a major corridor, Wyman said.
"We're really worried about the rain we're getting today," Wyman added. "There are still a lot of variables for the information we have. We're kind of in new territory. We don't have any historical data."
It will take longer to determine the fate of Highway T below Wappapello Lake's secondary spillway.
Water will need to come down before the true extent of the damage can be determined, Wyman said.
The section included eight concrete pipes, many of which have sustained a lot of damage, he said.
The lake was at 397.29 feet as of 8:30 today, said Cindy Jackson, project manager. Combined discharge was 15,850 cubic feet per second from both spillways, before new rainfall.
The Wayne County Sheriff's Department has a deputy stationed on the north side of Wappapello Dam, which is now cut off from direct access to Poplar Bluff and other southern areas.
It would add 25-30 minutes to response times from the sheriff's department to take alternate routes because of the number of roads that are flooded, said Sheriff Dean Finch.
Access to the area will be easier when flooded roads are able to reopen, officials say.
The area is served by the East Wayne County Ambulance district, which does not have increased response times, Finch said.
The problem could be with getting patients to Poplar Bluff and out of the flooded area, according to Finch. Alternate routes take any where from 45 minutes to an hour and a half longer.
Following the 2011 flood, this last time Highway T washed out, a temporary road was opened below the spillway shortly after the flood. It took more than a year for a permanent road to be constructed.