01:03 ‘Total Disbelief’: Families Isolated as Isaias Washes Away Only Road to Their Homes Heavy rain and rising waters washed away a private road in Huntingtown, Maryland, stranding 7 families on the wrong side of the break.

Record flooding along some tributaries after torrential post-Christmas weekend rain sent the Mississippi River to levels not seen since the Great Flood of 1993.

(WUNDERGROUND BLOG: Historic Mississippi River Flood )

Nearly a dozen locations have seen water levels on rivers or creeks rise to new record crests, including on parts of the Mississippi River and the Meramec River.

At one time before New Year's Eve, over 400 river gauges were reporting levels above flood stage, according to the National Weather Service, from Texas to Ohio and Mississippi to Virginia.

Locations that have set record flood crests included:

Across the state of Missouri, at least 7,100 buildings were affected by floodwater , according to Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon.

At Cape Girardeau, Missouri , about 115 miles south-southeast of St. Louis, the Mississippi River rose above the previous record flood crest there from the Great Flood of 1993, with a broad crest exceeding that of the August 8, 1993 crest.

Fortunately, the city's downtown flood wall and levees protect Cape Girardeau to a river stage of 53 to 54 feet, significantly higher than what was reached.

However, at least 25 homes were either flooded, or inaccessible due to the flooding , according to the city of Cape Girardeau's blog on Jan. 1. The rising river prompted closures of numerous roads and intersections within the city .

South of Cape Girardeau, the Mississippi River set a record at Thebes, Illinois , by nearly 2 feet. The river level there is now subsiding and may dip below flood stage later in the weekend.

The rather short-lived nature of this flood mitigated the effect on levees compared to other longer-lived flood events of the past.

The Mississippi River at St. Louis crested New Year's Day at its third highest level on record (42.58 feet), less than a foot shy of its April 28, 1973 flood crest (43.23 feet), but well short of the record 1993 crest (49.58 feet).

The St. Louis flood wall, as well as the Metro East St. Louis and Fish Lake levees protect the area to a river stage of 54 feet, which is 4.4 feet above the 1993 record crest. The river's fast currents and high levels prompted the U.S. Coast Guard to shut down a five-mile section of the river to navigation near St. Louis.

The Meramec River fell below flood stage in the St. Louis suburb of Valley Park, Missouri, on Monday. However, its lowermost stretch is forecast to remain above flood stage in Arnold, Missouri, until this weekend, possibly slowed in its retreat by the volume of water in the Mississippi River, into which it empties.

(MORE: Missouri Road Closures )

At one time, a 24-mile long stretch of Interstate 44 was closed southwest of St. Louis due to the record-setting Meramec River flood. A precautionary evacuation was ordered early Wednesday morning for parts of Valley Park, Missouri at the lower end of an area protected by a levee built in 2007.

<img class="styles__noscript__2rw2y" src="https://s.w-x.co/vallepark.gif" srcset="https://s.w-x.co/vallepark.gif 400w, https://s.w-x.co/vallepark.gif 800w" > Before/after images of Interstate 44 flooded in Valley Park, Missouri. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson and Google Earth) (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson and Google Earth)

According to the St. Louis National Weather Service office, this flood forced the closure of Interstate 70 in two locations, Interstate 44 in three locations, and a stretch of Interstate 55.

"This did not occur in the Great Flood of '93, nor the December Flood of '82, nor any other flood of recent history," stated the early Thursday morning NWS-St. Louis forecast discussion.

Unusual December Deluges the Tipping Point

"This is probably one of the earliest (times) we've seen flooding on the Mississippi River," said Marty Pope, senior service hydrologist with the National Weather Service office in Jackson, Mississippi, during a Monday news conference with Mississippi Governor Phil Bryant.

<img class="styles__noscript__2rw2y" src="https://s.w-x.co/stl-miss-river-inset.jpg" srcset="https://s.w-x.co/stl-miss-river-inset.jpg 400w, https://s.w-x.co/stl-miss-river-inset.jpg 800w" > Number of times a Mississippi River crest above flood stage (30 feet) has occurred in St. Louis in each three-month period. (Data: NWS; Chart: Infogram) (Data: NWS; Chart: Infogram)

The large majority of the highest crests in the middle and Lower Mississippi Valley have occurred either in spring or summer, the result of heavy rainfall and also a contribution from spring snowmelt.

For example, of the 133 crests on record at or above flood stage in St. Louis, only three have occurred in the months of December, January or February. One of those occurred in December 1982 during a strong El Niño, the others were on Feb. 28, 1985 and Jan. 31, 1916.

Roughly 92 percent of those crests have occurred in March through May or June through August.

This strange December/January flood was fueled by several events.

First, Winter Storm Bella was either a record or near-record November snowstorm in parts of the Upper Mississippi Valley prior to Thanksgiving. That snowpack melted within days, adding some volume to tributaries and main-stem rivers.

Then came December's soakings.

Winter Storm Echo brought heavy snow to the West and parts of the Plains states, but to the east, a soaking rain fell from east Texas up the Mississippi Valley. Des Moines, Iowa, picked up 3.78 inches of rain from December 12-14.

The torrential rain the week after Christmas was the final tipping point. Parts of the Ozarks picked up over 10 inches of rain, mainly in 36 hours or less.

<img class="styles__noscript__2rw2y" src="https://dsx.weather.com//util/image/w/dec2015-miss-basin-rain.jpg?v=at&w=485&h=273&api=7db9fe61-7414-47b5-9871-e17d87b8b6a0" srcset="https://dsx.weather.com//util/image/w/dec2015-miss-basin-rain.jpg?v=at&w=485&h=273&api=7db9fe61-7414-47b5-9871-e17d87b8b6a0 400w, https://dsx.weather.com//util/image/w/dec2015-miss-basin-rain.jpg?v=ap&w=980&h=551&api=7db9fe61-7414-47b5-9871-e17d87b8b6a0 800w" > December 2015 estimated rainfall over the Mississippi River basin as of Dec. 28, 2015.

Among the locations topping their wettest Decembers include:

Des Moines, Iowa: 5.44 inches. Previous record was 3.72 inches in 1931.

Ft. Smith, Arkansas: 10.81 inches. Previous record was 10.09 inches in 1971.

Lincoln, Nebraska: 4.42 inches. Previous record was 4.03 inches in 1913.

St. Louis, Missouri: 11.74 inches. Previous record was 7.82 inches in 1982.

Springfield, Missouri: 11.43 inches. Previous record was 11.02 inches in 1895.

Joplin, Missouri: 9.77 inches. Previous record was 7.67 inches in 1999.

All this water had to go somewhere.

In one of the coldest months of the year, river flooding will was a topic to follow well into January 2016.

PHOTOS: Severe Weather and Flooding December 2015