First locks on Mississippi River to reopen

By Lisa Shumaker

CHICAGO (Reuters) - Sections of the upper Mississippi River that have been closed for five days due to the worst U.S. Midwest flood in 15 years will begin reopening on Wednesday, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers said on Tuesday.

The entire river will not reopen for about two weeks or longer, with flood waters yet to crest in St. Louis.

Nearly 300 miles of the Mississippi River have been closed to commercial traffic -- disrupting shipments of grain, coal and petroleum products and trapping at least 27 tow boats, grain traders said.

The flooding has also destroyed millions of acres of corn and soybeans, which sent corn prices to record highs for eight straight trading sessions.

The St. Louis harbor is expected to close on Thursday for at least five days as the river crests, cutting off barge traffic from the Missouri and Illinois rivers.

Flood waters are expected to reach 39 feet compared with nearly 50 feet in 1993.

Lock 13 in Clinton, Iowa, is scheduled to reopen Wednesday, along with Lock 14 in Pleasant Valley, Iowa. Lock 15 in Rock Island, Illinois, should reopen on Thursday.

It is not known when Locks 16 through 25 will resume operation, said Dennis Shannon with the Army Corps in the Rock Island District.

So far one levee has broken in Gulfport, Illinois, upstream from Lock 19 in Keokuk, Illinois.

The flooding is expected to reduce second-quarter earnings at shipping and transport companies, but the full extent of the damage to operations may not be clear for weeks.

The river closure is estimated to cost barge companies $750,000 to $1 million per day, said Larry Daily, president of Alter Barge Line Inc, which has 100 barges and three tow boats on the closed sections of the river.

At least 27 tow boats are trapped on the upper Mississippi River, grain traders said.

(Reporting by Lisa Shumaker; Editing by John Picinich)