Jan 4 Residents of flooded areas in far southern Illinois anxiously waited for the swollen Mississippi River to peak on Sunday, with hundreds electing to remain in their homes, as states downstream prepared for the rising waters. About 125 structures were flooded in hard-hit Alexander County, the southernmost point in Illinois, where three families near one breach stayed dry behind sandbag fortifications and private levees, county board Chairman Chalen Tatum said.