The Mississippi River crisis has the potential to cost the economy billions

Low water levels in the Mississippi River could cost the U.S. economy as much as $20 billion.

Traffic has slowed to a crawl, and meteorologists at AccuWeather say it is not expected to recover until early next year.

The mighty Mississippi accounts for more than 90 percent of the country’s ag export traffic, but Ag Secretary Tom Vilsack says he is hopeful crops will soon be able to move to the markets quickly.