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<br /> <br />look advantage of addiIional govern- <br />ment money to protect the commer- <br />cial basis of the town. <br /> <br /> <br /> <br />Herman purchased whole blocks of flood-prone <br />properties under the buyout program. <br /> <br />Hermann, Missouri, the county <br />seat of Gasconade County, <br />is no stranger 10 flooding. but <br />Ihe flood of '93 was memorable. The <br />waIer levels were higher than ever <br />before, more commercial and resi- <br />dential property was devasIaIed, and <br />the flood waIers stayed for weeks <br />instead of days. The flood waters of <br />1986. the second worsI flood in <br />Hermann's long history covered parts <br />of the ciIy for only four days; whereas <br />in 1993, the river aI Hermann was <br />above flood sIage for 51 straight days. <br />Furthermore. Ihe flood waIers seemed <br />to recede only to suddenly reappear - <br />three times beIween July 6 and 31. <br />and once again in September. <br /> <br />The town was also nearly <br />isolated by water and was CUI in half <br />when water from Frene Creek. which <br />flows into the Missouri. overflowed <br />Ihe bridges on EasI First and SixIh <br />SIreel.i Hermann.s police chief. Bob <br />Sitton. supervised Ihe building of <br />emergency roads 10 keep the city <br />connecIed. The lOwn lost iIS phone <br />system, the schools had to be closed <br />since one quarter of the sIudents lived <br /> <br />Page 36 <br /> <br />Open space enhances the appearances of privately <br />owned homes in the community of Hermann, Missouri <br /> <br />Hermann <br /> <br />across Ihe Missouri River, and some <br />worried IhaI gianI fuel Ianks floating <br />down the river might destroy the <br />Highway 19 Bridge over the Mis- <br />souri.2 <br /> <br />YeI, Hermann is resilienI; iIs <br />inhabitants are the descendants of <br />German settlers who came to cenIral <br />Missouri in the mid-nineIeenth cen- <br />tury. An editorial, appearing in Ihe <br />November 23. 1993. issue of the <br />Hermann Advertiser Courier, written <br />by Mayor John Bartel, takes the crisis <br />of Ihe nooding in stride. He thanked <br />the communiIy for their uniIed efforts <br />in battling the nood. he characterized <br />the summer of nooding as an exciIing <br />and challenging time, and he inviIed <br />Hermann.s citizens 10 become part of <br />the soluIion. <br /> <br />A good portion of thaI <br />soluIion proved to be Hermann.s <br />wholesale acceptance and participa- <br />lion in the buyout program. Not only <br />did Hermann's residents quickly and <br />successfully apply for money to <br />purchase residential homcs habitually <br />IhreaIened by the noods. bUIIhey also <br /> <br />Like any town afflicted wiIh <br />natural disasIer, Hermann quickly <br />applied to FEMA for disaster relief <br />money. and by November 23, it had <br />received the first payment from Ihat <br />agency to repair infrasIructure that <br />the nood had ruined.] But the Iown <br />was also inIerested in the long-term <br />solutions, and so Ihe ciIy council was <br />also interesIed in the buyout program. <br /> <br />Officials from Hermann heard <br />the firsI rumors about the buyout <br />program on September 7. 1993, when <br />Ihey. along WiIh leaders from neigh- <br />boring communities met with person- <br />nel from Missouri.s Stale Emergency <br />ManagemenI Agency.4 On October <br />24. Harold Volkmer. whose congres- <br />sional districI included Hermann. <br />Missouri, eXplained his proposed <br />plan to improve the exisIing legisla- <br />lion governing buyOUIS of property on <br />noodplains. His plan made more <br />federal money available for the <br />program, and revised the formula by <br />