Officials now say the crest of the Mississippi River in Davenport will hit tonight. The river is expected to hit twenty-two-and-a-half feet, just below the record of 1993. Davenport Public Works Director Dee Breummer says the National Guard has been a big help making sure the sandbags hold.She believes the dikes will hold when the river crests.In the past few days, the Iowa National Guard has -doubled- the number of troops on active duty in eastern Iowa to help local officials fight the flooding.Guard spokesman Colonel Robert King says 210 of the 240 troops now on active duty are in the Davenport area, with 15 soldiers in Marquette and another 15 manning various headquarters operations.They’re helping with levee patrols, watching for breaks, and continual sandbagging operations. King says as the high water levels march downriver, so are the Guard’s forces. Some Army engineers are meeting with officials downriver to see what might be needed there.Even though the Mississippi has already reached its crest along roughly the upper half of its Iowa run, King acknowledges the muddy water won’t be going down anytime soon. King says still more Guard members may be called up.
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