Mississippi River flood levee breaks - evacuations ordered

Another Mississippi River levee burst in the heavily flooded Midwest, this one near Winfield, Mo., just ahead of a scheduled visit by President Bush to the region on Thursday.

The Winfield levee was breached late Wednesday night, causing flash flooding in the surrounding areas, including in southeastern Lincoln County, KTVI TV reported.

The breach was about 150 feet wide and happened just east of Winfield along Pillsbury Road, according to Lincoln County Emergency Operations Command.

Water was flowing toward Winfield's secondary levee and conditions in Lincoln County were worsening, according to Emergency Operations Command.

The White House did not say how much money would be headed to the stricken region, but the U.S. House of Representatives debated a war funding bill that included $2.65 billion to replenish the government's disaster relief fund.

While Bush would survey the flood damage in Cedar Rapids and Iowa City in the southeast part of the state, the Republican hoping to succeed him -- presumed presidential nominee John McCain -- paid a visit to hard-hit Columbus Junction, Iowa.

Iowa Gov. Chet Culver has said he anticipated $2 billion in federal aid. Ultimately, the cost of the disaster may end up rivaling that of 1993 Midwest floods that caused more than $20 billion in damage and 48 deaths.

Federal aid was expected to help with the largely uninsured cost of repairing or replacing washed-out roads and rail lines and businesses and homes inundated by the flood waters.

Union Pacific Corp, the No. 1 U.S. railroad, said on Thursday it had reopened an East-West track through Iowa, allowing limited traffic. A pair of lock and dams reopened on the Mississippi River, though more than 240 miles of the vital waterway remain closed, stranding scores of barges.

Days without rain have allowed rivers and creeks to recede in Iowa, Illinois, Wisconsin and Indiana, revealing the scope of the multibillion-dollar flood disaster.