(Bloomberg) -- As floodwaters move south along the MississippiRiver, the U.S. Army Corp ofEngineers is weighing steps it could take to prevent widespreadflooding from southern Missouri down to the Gulf Coast.

In Louisiana, the Corps and local levee districts are inspectingthe Mississippi and Atchafalaya rivers. The Corps could open theBonnet Carre Spillway, diverting up to 250,000 cubic feet persecond of water into Lake Pontchartrain, north of New Orleans,spokesman Bob Anderson said in an e-mailed statement Tuesday.

Heavy December rains across the Midwest created the region’sworst flooding since 2011, deluging communities, forcing theclosing of pipelines, terminals and grain elevators and killing atleast 30 people, according to state emergency officials inMissouri, Illinois and Oklahoma.

The Coast Guard already had high-water safetyadvisories in place for much of the Mississippi River south ofChester, Illinois. On Tuesday, it added one for a 21-mile (34kilometer) stretch near Baton Rouge, Louisiana There are alsotowing limitations in effect near Morgan City, Louisiana, forvessels heading south that are 600 feet (183 meters) orshorter.

River cresting

The Mississippi was cresting Tuesday in Caruthersville,Missouri, reaching 42.6 feet. That’s above the 32 feet thatqualifies as flood stage there, but below the record set in 2011 of47.61 feet, the National Weather Service said. The river isforecast to crest in Memphis, Tennessee, on Friday at 40.5 feet,below the 1937 record of 48.7 feet.

“We’re at the highest levels we’ve ever had for the time ofyear, but the levels we’re getting have been reached and exceededseveral times in the past,” said Jeff Graschel, a hydrologist atthe Lower Mississippi River Forecast Center, an arm of the NationalWeather Service, in Slidell, Louisiana.

Fifty miles of the Illinois River remain closed and another50-mile stretch is open with restrictions, the Coast Guard said.CME Group Inc. declared force majeure at U.S. soybean shippingstations, all of which are located on the Illinois River. Thedeclaration is effective until further notice, protecting theshippers from liability for contracts that go unfulfilled forreasons beyond their control.

Section reopened

South of St. Louis, which was ravaged by flooding last week, theCoast Guard has reopened the 76-mile stretch of the Mississippibetween Chester, Illinois, and Billings Landing, Missouri, it saidin an e-mailed statement Tuesday.

Meanwhile, the Army Corps of Engineers’ Memphis District said itwould stop preparing to operate the Birds Point-New Madrid floodwaybecause of lower crest levels and forecasts for the Ohio River atCairo, Illinois.

“It doesn’t mean we’re completely out of the woods,” ColonelJeff Anderson, commander of the Memphis District, said. “There’sstill a lot of water in the system that’s making its way to theGulf of Mexico and we must be prepared for future rain eventswithin the massive Mississippi River drainage basin.”

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