Relief over Memphis floods - but for some 'everything is lost'

The Mississippi River rose to a height just inches short of its record in Memphis yesterday, flooding low-lying areas but causing less damage than had been anticipated.

The US National Weather Service said the river reached 47.85ft in the early hours of yesterday and was expected to stay very close to that level for the following 24 to 36 hours. The crest was just shy of the record of 48.7ft that Memphis reached during a devastating 1937 flood.

In many neighbourhoods, foul-smelling water approached the roofs of homes, and plastic bottles, rubbish bins and rotting tree limbs floated on the surface. Residents said they had spotted snakes and fish in the water, while officials warned them of unseen bacteria.

Some greeted news of the river cresting with relief, but for others it was of little consolation. Rocio Rodriguez, 24, has been at a shelter for 12 days with her husband and two young children, since their trailer park flooded. Told by a reporter that the river had hit its high point, she said: "It doesn't matter. We've already lost everything."

Surrounding Shelby County and four others have been declared disaster areas by President Barack Obama, which means they will be eligible for much-needed federal disaster aid. About 500 people were in shelters.

Bob Nations, director of the Shelby County Emergency Management Agency, described what he expected to be slow and costly retreat by the high water, saying: "They're going to recede slowly, it's going to be rather putrid, it's going to be expensive to clean up, it's going to be labour-intensive."

Graceland, Elvis Presley's former estate several miles south of Memphis, was safe from the flooding. "I want to say this: Graceland is safe. And we would charge Hell with a water pistol to keep it that way and I'd be willing to lead the charge," said Mr Nations.

The slow-moving disaster was heading downstream to the states of Mississippi and Louisiana, where residents were bracing themselves. Farmers down river built homemade levees to protect their crops, and engineers diverted water into a lake to ease the pressure on New Orleans levees. Inmates in Louisiana's largest prison were evacuated to higher ground.

Meanwhile, Memphis authorities declared that the city was open for business. The local professional basketball team played a game as scheduled on Monday night and a barbecue contest this weekend has been moved to higher ground.

"The country thinks we're in lifeboats and we are under water. For visitors, it's business as usual," said Kevin Kane, president and chief executive of the Memphis Convention and Visitors Bureau.The Mississippi River has broken high-water records and inundated low-lying towns and farmland because of heavy rain over the past few weeks and melting snow.

The water on the Mississippi is so high that the rivers and creeks that feed into it are backed up, a phenomenon that has accounted for some of the worst of the flooding so far.