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<br /> <br />Cape Girardeau <br /> <br />Like mosI towns along Missouri's <br />Mississippi River boundary. <br />Cape Girardeau suffers from <br />frequenI flooding. However. unlike <br />the other river towns. "Cape.'-as the <br />locals call it-did not participate in the <br />'93 floodplain buyout program. I <br /> <br />The reason for Cape's not <br />participating was noI because the flood <br />damage in '93 was slight. One hundred <br />sixty homes /looded. and residents <br />sandbagged furiously around houses <br />in the Red Star neighborhood north of <br />town and in Meadowbrook to the <br />south. A permanenI flood wall had <br />been buill to protect Ihe downtown <br />area from crests as high as 54 feeI- <br />.93's cresI was 47.9 fee1.2 <br /> <br />Cape Girardeau's city council <br />brie/ly Ialked about the buyout <br />program at the councii"s meeting in <br />OcIober, buI determined not to pursue <br />it. Their reasoning revolved around a <br />misunderstanding of the "100 year <br />flood" concept. as both the press and <br />the Corps of Engineers referred to the <br />'93 /lood. In a lireral sense, the phrase <br />seems 10 imply that such a flood would <br />happen only once in a century. In fact. <br />the precise meaning of the phrase is <br />that in anyone year there is a one <br />percent chance of such a flood <br />happening. and in a century such a <br />flood is an absolute certainty. No <br />guarantee exists that similar floods <br />cannot happen even more frequently.] <br /> <br />Still another reason for the <br />non-participation might have been that <br />the flooded areas received a tremen- <br />dous amounI of help from outside <br />sources. Hundreds of volunteer sand- <br />baggers helped 10 man the temporary <br /> <br />levees, tons of free food and supplies <br />poured in from all over the nation. and <br />afIer the flood. hundreds of volunteers <br />showed up to help clean and repair Ihe <br />damaged houses. Mennonites volun- <br />leered to shovel mud out of people's <br />homes. various church groups sent <br />contingents tu rebuild and repair <br />structures. and groups such as the <br />Salvation Army supplied money to <br />help people find temporary shellerA <br /> <br />UnfortunaIely, Ihe flood of '95 <br />was different. The flood waters were <br />nearly as high-46.7 in '95-but Ihe <br />outpouring of help did nO! maIerialize, <br />and fewer volunteers came to help. <br />Then. too. Ihe '95 flood was much more <br />sudden. In '93 people had time to build <br />substanIial sandbag levees around <br />houses, but Ihe water rose too quickly in <br />'95. and dozens of homes flooded much <br />more quickly and seriously as a resull.5 <br /> <br />By May 28. I ()() homes had <br />flooded in the Cape Girardeau <br />neighborhoods of Red Star, Smeller- <br />ville. Meadowbrook. and Highway <br />177 (the area is named for the <br />highway), and city officials were ready <br />10 consider Ihe buyout.6 If facI, in <br />Jefferson CiIy as Tom Uhlenbrock of <br />the Post Dispatch was interviewing <br />Buck Kat!, the Deputy Director for the <br />Stale Emergency Management Agen- <br />cy (SEMA) about the buyout program, <br />he was intenupIed by Cape Girardeau <br />officials calling about the program.? <br /> <br />Unfortunately for a time, it <br />seemed that Cape would not get any <br />help. because the initial federal <br />disaster declaraIion did not include <br />Cape Girardeau County. Inclusion on <br />Ihe lisI was necessary for an area to <br /> <br />qualify for buyout funds. By June 20. <br />Ihe counIy was on the disaster list. and <br />Cape was eligible 10 applY.8 <br /> <br />The announcement of bUYOUI <br />eligibility sparked action. Ken Etiink. <br />Cape's Development Services Coordi- <br />nator, scouted through the recently <br />/looded areas looking for damaged <br />houses. He found nearly 150 IhaI had <br />susIained some damage. He also <br />caIegorized each house by its elevation <br />in the floodplain area. Those that stood <br />lowest had suffered Ihe most damage. <br />and Etiink reasoned, would be the <br />most eligible for buyout relief.9 <br /> <br />Al a ciIy council meeIing on <br />July 17. the councilmen decided to <br />submit a formal applicaIion to the <br />Governor"s buyout review cornmiuee <br />in Jefferson City requesIing funding. <br />Ken Eftink Iold the council Ihat as a <br />resull of his survey there were <br />potentially 80 houses that were <br />damaged badly enough to qualify: 42 in <br />the Red Star area. 22 in SmelIerville. 14 <br />in Meadowbrook. and 2 in Highway <br />177. Thirty owners had already <br />contacted him wiIh expressed interest. <br /> <br />The councilmen were aware <br />that property purchased through the <br />buyout had 10 be devoted 10 "green- <br />way'. uses. and IhaI no sIrucIures could <br />be built on it. City Manager J. Ronald <br />Fischer suggested that some of Ihe <br />flood prone land in Red Star mighI be <br />ideal for a park and a boaI dock. 10 <br /> <br />By August 8, Ihe ciIy council <br />was ready to act. In the ensuing weeks <br />atier the July 17 council meeting, Ken <br />EfIink had done additional research <br />which he laIer used as a base for Ihe <br /> <br />Page 21 <br />