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Buchanan County Both Sugar Lake and Rushville are unincorporated settlements that are located 30 miles northwest of Kansas City near the Missouri River. Sugar Lake is a collection ofapproximaIely 160 houses builI around a lake of the same name. Rushville is a settlement of abouI 60 houses that were built along U.S. Highway 59 and Missouri Highway 45. Most of Rushville.s residenIs either farm or work in Atchison. Kansas. across the Missouri River. Homes in the area are inexpensive, averaging about $3 I .000. 1 NeiIher of these areas was a srranger to flooding. The latest disasIer had been in 1984 when waIer from the Missouri River broke through the Rushville-Sugar Lake Levee and covered the land for 22 days before receding.2 Yet even Ihis unpleasant experience was minor compared 10 four repeated floods that inundated the Iowns in July and September of 1993. The lirst flooding came on July 6. when Ihe Rushville-Sugar Lake Levee broke and the Missouri River swepIIhrough the gap. The land in the area is so flaI that once that levee broke, even a nonnal spring rain could cause flooding. More than the usual spring rains fell in 1993. and Ihe area flooded again on July 26. September 2. and September 23. Eaeh flood caused residents to evacuate and to seek shelIer with relatives. in local churches, or in emergency shelters Ihat the Federal Emergency Management Agency pro- vided.3 Such frequent flooding was unprecedenIed, and the people of Rushville and Sugar Lake decided they had suffered enough. Even before RepresentaIive Volkmer announced his new buyOUI legislation and Governor Carnahan gave it his unqualilied support. many Rushville-Sugar Lake residenIs were clamoring for information concerning buyouts under Ihe original 1980 legislation. Approximately 150 people showed up for a meeting about flood relief on October 7. Many of them wanted to know about the flood buyout program. It took Bud Crockett. Ihe Western District Commissioner for Buchanan Coumy by surprise. He had only Ihe barest knowledge of the program. Yet. his cursory explanation and promise 10 tind out more, was enough to encourage 42 people to put their names on a list indicating they were interested in a buyout. Once Crockett had done some research and shared this information wiIh Ihose iniIial applicants. 34 said they were delinitely interesIed in pursuing the matter further.4 With this list. Crockett con- Iacted the MOKAN Regional Council. an organization that was in business to help residents of the Missouri counIies of Buchanan, Andrew. DeKalb. and ClinIon, along wiIh Doniphan and AIchison Counties in Kansas, access governmem programs. By the time Crockett had submitted these prelimi- nary buyOUI requests to MOKAN. that agency had some of the details of Volkmer.s new buyout plan which were encouraging.5 \\'hen SEMA decided to eXIend the application period statewide until February 14. 1994. fourteen more residents of Sugar Lake and Rushville decided 10 add their names to the list. also.6 Follow- ing this show of interest. people met several times in the area to acquaim residents with the new buyoUI program, Shelley Temple of MOKAN hosted most of these meeIings in order 10 layout the ground rules. First. the program was voluntary. and applicants were free 10 drop out whenever Ihey wished. The county would make formal appraisals. which would be based on the pre-flood value of a house. minus whale vcr the homeown- er had already received from flood insurance or other payments from the government. Once the property was sold. Ihe houses would be demolished and Ihe land would be returned to its natural sIate.7 Good news came on July 3. when Bud Crockett learned through MOKAN thaI FEMA had approved a Iotal of S473.000 to purchase land and homes damaged in the flooding. A short time later. Missouri awarded Buchanan County $471.000 in a community developmem block grant.8 With that funding assured. the buyout process could begin. Several meetings followed. The largest one. held on AugusI 29 aI the Rushville Christian Church. drew 100 people. Shelley Temple Iold the people that within the next several weeks appraisers would conIact them to make a formal appraisal. A few weeks later they would receive a fonnal oller. at which point they Page 19