Small towns suffer big losses as rivers rise

Neighbors pitch in across Midwest to battle flooding amid levee warnings Bryan Sherwood, right, and his nephew Cody Sherwood place sandbags outside the family's antique shop as water from the Mississippi River flows down Main Street in La Grange, Mo., on Wednesday. OAKVILLE, Iowa - As floodwaters take aim at the tiny towns lining the Mississippi River, the heartland ethic of neighbors helping neighbors is proving to be a potent force against the rising water. Volunteers up and down the river in Illinois and Missouri joined sandbagging operations early Thursday in the frantic effort to contain the Mississippi as forecasters predicted near-record crests from Quincy, Ill., to Winfield, Mo. "There's one thing about Midwesterners," said Don Giltner, mayor of Louisiana, Mo., a picturesque river town north of St. Louis where 40... [read full story]