A man works to launch a boat from a car trailer on a flooded part of a road following a break in the town's levee in an already flooded area of Winfield, Missouri, 27 Jun 2008

The swollen waters of the Mississippi River in the central U.S. have broken through another embankment, threatening to flood more houses and farmland.

The sandbag-reinforced levee broke early this Friday morning near the city of Winfield, in the state of Missouri, about 70 kilometers northeast of St. Louis.  Officials say it will "ultimately inundate" the town.

It is the latest of dozens of embankments to fail to contain the rain-flooded Mississippi over the past 10 days, ruining buildings and huge areas of farmland.  

Authorities say the worst of the flooding is over.  But the effects are likely to continue.  The farms are major producers of corn, wheat and soybeans, prompting fears that crop losses will result in higher worldwide food prices.

Some information for this report was provided by AFP, AP and Reuters.