One Town's Hope Rests On Money and The Mighty Mississippi

The Mississippi River system is both an artery and a vein. It pumps ag products out of the heartland and into the world while bringing back fertilizer and steel to keep that economic engine purring.

But there’s too much water. Flooding is forcing boats and barges to wait for the river to drop. In the Quad Cities, bordering Illinois and Iowa, the Mississippi just dropped below flood stage for the first time in 96 consecutive days, crushing the prior 42-day record.

The stalled river traffic could be an opportunity, though, for a town that’s been slowly dying for years: Cairo, Illinois. It has no grocery store or gas station, but the town is trying to construct its way out of poverty while giving those barge companies a place to unload stranded cargo.

https://news.stlpublicradio.org/post/one-town-s-hope-rests-money-and-mighty-mississippi