River crests at 21.5 feet in the Quad Cities

DAVENPORT, Iowa (KWQC) - The Mississippi River flood of 2023 has now crested in the Quad Cities. The river reached 21.5 feet at the gauge in Rock Island and is expected to stay around that level for several more days before starting a slow fall.

To hold back the floodwater and protect Davenport, the city built HESCO walls along River Drive. In this case, the city added three times the amount of sand along the riverfront and the wall is twice as high and twice as wide as the one built in during the 22.7 foot record-setting flood of 2019, officials said.

According to the National Weather Service, the Mississippi River hit 21.51 feet at 6:10 Monday evening and then started going down. That is a preliminary number and it could be another week before official data is released.

The river is expected to stay at major flood stage, which is 18 feet, into next week.

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