"The Mississippi River has reached record high levels in the area of Rock Island, Illinois, as melting heavy snowpack coupled with rain has caused widespread flooding, a national hydrologist said on Friday.

Heavy rain in the central United States brought the river’s level to a new peak of 22.7 feet at Rock Island, just topping the 1993 record of 22.63 feet, according to hydrologist Justin Palmer at the North Central River Forecast Center in Chanhassen, Minnesota.

“As far as Rock Island is concerned, the stars kind of aligned to where they got rain right on top of what was already cresting near the record,” Palmer said."

Gabriella Borter reports for Reuters May 3, 2019. [2]