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<br /> <br />susIained damage of over 50%. the <br />owner would have to raise it a foot <br />above the 100 year floodplain level. <br />In most of Hartsburg, that meanI four <br />feet. Nancy Grant. the town's Flood <br />Relief Coordinator. feared thaI the <br />independently-minded citizens might <br />simply defy that rule and rebuild <br />without raising their homes. <br /> <br /> <br />Hartsburg and Boone County <br /> <br />The south Boone County town <br />of Hartsburg, populaIion 131, <br />sits about three-fourths of a <br />mile from the Missouri River. This <br />picturesque town.s residents either <br />farm or commute to jobs in either <br />Jefferson CiIy or Columbia, both of <br />which are about fifteen miles away - <br />Columbia to Ihe north; Jefferson <br />City to Ihe south. In 1993. about the <br />only businesses in town were IwO <br />restaurants whose best customers <br />were bicycle riders who rode the <br />KA TY Trail from Jefferson City or <br />Columbia. <br /> <br />Before 1993. a tlood had noI <br />found Hartsburg for 30 years. High <br />water had threatened, buI a Corps of <br />Engineers levee had kept Hartsburg <br />dry for years. Throughout June in <br />1993. however. Hartsburg residenIs <br />watched the Missouri rise. CiIizens <br />organized into shilis to raise the <br />Corps' levee even higher. This <br />worked, until five inches of rain fell <br />over the area in less than 24 hours <br />between Wednesday July 7, and <br />Thursday July 8. The Missouri crested <br />Thursday morning at 33 feet. one foot <br />higher Ihan Ihe heighI of Ihe levee and <br />its additional sandbag reinforcement. <br />A hole 400 feet wide opened. Jelling <br />water pour through. NexI. part of Ihe <br />levee south of Iown also broke and 2- <br />8 feet of waIer soaked all but 12 ouI of <br />50 houses in Ihe town. 1 <br /> <br />By July 22, it seemed to be <br />over. The waIer dropped a fOOl, and <br />some families began to cautiously <br />creep back to their homes to survey <br />the damage. Then on July 25. the <br />heavy rains came back, and the water <br />sIarted to rise again; this lime it rose <br />even higher. Both the BapIist Church <br />and United Church of Christ had only <br /> <br />Page 34 <br /> <br />endured flooded basements in the tlrsI <br />onslaught. This time water rose into <br />the sancIuaries, and church members <br />hauled the pews and pianos ouI of both <br />buildings to high ground. Mayor <br />Floyd Steelman ordered the sewer <br />pumps shut off. and Union Electric <br />Power Company shut off electricity <br />and gas in Ihe town. The Post Office <br />closed temporarily while Ihe postmas- <br />Ier moved opera lions to Ashland, <br />seven miles away. <br /> <br />Yet. the town.s people refused <br />10 give up. Instead they reIreaIed 10 the <br />center of town and hastily buill a <br />sandbag wall five feet high. 10 protect <br />the Iwelve buildings thai had escaped <br />the first flood. Tenned Ihe "Hartsburg <br />Wall". by the approximately 90 people <br />who maintained it. Ihe wall ran from the <br />Hartsburg HiIching PosI Cafe several <br />blocks through Iown to the Senior <br />Citizens Center.2 <br /> <br />By J ul y 31. the water was <br />dropping-this time pennanently. By <br />AugusI 12. Ihe water was ouI of the <br />town. Somebody PUI up a sign on main <br />street: "Hartsburg Thanks Everyone, <br />Hell of a Try 1"3 <br /> <br />People patiently began to <br />rebuild. Many houses were noI <br />covered by flood insurance because <br />the residenrs honesIly believed thaI <br />their homes were not in the tlood- <br />plainA MosI people in Hartsburg had <br />really not considered tlooding a Ihreat. <br />They neither knew where the tlood- <br />plain was. nor were they familiar with <br />tlood regulations. Many were incredu- <br />lous when the Federal Emergency <br />ManagemenI Agency's Sharon Reigel <br />came 10 Iown 10 infonn them during a <br />town meeIing. thai in order 10 rebuild a <br />house in the floodplain thaI had <br /> <br />GranI reminded the ciIizens <br />that failure to comply could resulI in <br />the Iown being dropped from the <br />NaIional Flood Insurance Program. <br />To compound these problems. Mayor <br />Floyd Steelman resigned and Ihe most <br />aeIive of the town's ciIy councilmen. <br />Glen Klemme died.5 <br /> <br />In Ihe midst ofIhis disorgani- <br />zation and confusion. some residents <br />received first word of Representative <br />Volkmer's new buyout program. At <br />tlrst. the program received lillle <br />support. Linda Hilgedick. a HarIsburg <br />residenI, felt few people would apply <br />because the majority of people had <br />already moved inIO their homes or <br />were in the tlnal stages of painIing <br />and carpeting.6 <br /> <br />On December 16. The <br />Hartsburg Hot Line, wrillen for the <br />Ashland Boone County Journal by <br />Nancy Grant and Shirley Thomas <br />mentioned that Ihe Hartsburg CiIy <br />Council was sIudying Volkmer's <br />buyout bill. Two weeks !aIer. on <br />December 30. Ihe Ashland Boone <br />County Journal mentioned in a front <br />page article thaI Southern DisIricI <br />Commissioner Karen Miller would <br />hold a meeting on January 5 in <br />Hartsburg to inform flood victims <br />abouI the buyout program. She <br />reminded people that the buyout <br />application deadline was January IS, <br />