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On January 25. Governor Carnahan's office announced that Arnold would receive $4.1 million 10 buy 89 houses in the floodplain plus a number of mobile home pad,. I I Some of the applicanIs decided not to sell; they chose to rebuild instead. On April 15. 1994, another flood hit Arnold. and many people who had rebuilI realized thaI they had made a misIake. Even though the waIer was not as deep. and it stayed only three days instead of a month as iI had in 1993. iI was enough to damage 20 rebuilt houses.13 These people were glad. after this 1994 flood, to join Ihe buyout, which broughI the Iotal number of single-family dwellings. where homeowners had accepted the buyout offer. 10 72.14 BuIIhat was not the end of the buyout program in Arnold. In May 1995. the Meramec flooded Arnold once again. This disaster brought river levels only a few inches less than in the '94 flood, buI it was Ihe final sIraw for those who had chosen to remain in Ihe floodplain. Gaylord and Nonna West had resisted Ihe buyout in 1993 and 1994. Just before the '93 flood Ihey had spent $100,000 on remodeling. The damage was severe, but they could not bring themselves 10 leave such a heavy investment. In '94 Ihe house was damaged again. but sIill the couple decided 10 slay. In '95. however, after sustaining S45,OOO in damage. they were convinced. The buyOUI offer amounIed to only $69,000. but they were willing 10 lake the loss 10 be ouI of the floodplain.15 Other residents like Joe Moore had taken the initial flood buyout offer after Ihe '93 flood and were living high and dry when tloods canle again. He remembers driving back 10 his old home site on the floodplain and actually laughing at Ihe rising water. I felt relieved. I was laugh- ing. I even drove down to the old house. I could see the water coming up. I didn.t have to sandbag... I was happy because I was bought out and ['Ill gone. I don't have to worry about it the rest of my life./6 Fortunately. for people like the Wests who missed Ihe opportunity after the. 93 tlood. there was additional money available for buyouIS after the '95 tlood. On August 27, 1995. Governor Carnahan announced thaI the fedeml governmenI had made an additional $1.3 million available to buy homes on the floodplains of Missouri. Arnold would get S275.000 to buy 16 more single family homes. 17 While Arnold was buying single family dwellings from 1993 through 1995. the city was also eliminating mobile homes from the floodplain through another buyout program. Since mobile home owners often did not own the land that their home sat on. and because under Missouri law a mobile home is classed as a motor vehicle. the federal buyout program could not apply 10 them. But the Slate Emergency Management Agency was able 10 find money through a separaIe program of Ihe Federal Emergency ManagemenIAgen- cy. to help these mobile home owners move.ls Mobile home owners could also receive help Ihrough the vehicle insurance thaI many canied on their mobile homes. In addition, the city of Arnold also made money available to Ihese people. On August 14. 1994. after Ihe second big flood, the Arnold city council voted to give each mobile home owner in the Riverside Mobile Home Park $2.000 from federal communiIy development block grant money to pay for new utility hookups. awning removal, shed and air conditioner removal, and occupancy penn its. Beautiful open space improves the quality of life in Arnold, Missouri. Page 17