Flooding danger passing by Nauvoo

Four pumps continued to move water away from a historic Mormon landmark in Nauvoo, Ill., Thursday as the flooding threat there is begins to lessen.

The pumps were on the property of the historic Nauvoo House, owned by the Community of Christ Church.

LDS Church missionaries and Brigham Young University students in Nauvoo worked with members of the Community of Christ Church to sandbag the historic structure, a "hotel" built in 1841 under direction of Joseph Smith.

"The water is seeping in underneath the sandbags, coming up out of the ground. That is why we have the four pumps on it," said Donna Whisenant, who is serving as a missionary for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints with her husband, Vern, in Nauvoo. They are from Provo, Utah.

The LDS Church did not have any structures in Nauvoo that were threatened by major flooding, she said.

LDS missionaries also helped fill sandbags in communities near Nauvoo. Missionaries from the Missouri St. Louis, Illinois Peoria and Illinois Nauvoo missions began work in Quincy Wednesday. LDS groups also helped out in Niota and Dallas City.

The groups had plans to shore up Hunts Levee, located between Quincy and Keokuk; but the levee broke before they arrived, sending massive amounts of water into surrounding farmland.

In addition to work in Nauvoo and surrounding communities, LDS Church members and missionaries assisted flood relief efforts in other parts of Illinois and in Indiana, Iowa and Wisconsin.

In response to the flooding, the LDS Church sent 16 truckloads of supplies -- including shovels and wheelbarrows -- to the impacted area. Church members distributed 26,000 cleaning kits and 15,000 hygiene kits, according to a Church Welfare Services report.