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<br /> <br />to rise another Iwo feet during Ihe <br />next two days. with leaks appearing <br />along three week old levees, and with <br />more rain predicted. Ihe situaIion at <br />Ihe end of July appeared hopeless. <br />Faulkenberry believed "it was all <br />about to go under,'. Everyone agreed <br />with her.4 <br /> <br /> <br />Jefferson County <br /> <br />Foods have always threatened <br />Jefferson County because Ihree <br />rivers flow through its area. Six <br />limes between 1973 and 1993. flood <br />waters from the Mississippi, Mer- <br />amec. and Big River have devasIated <br />Ihe counIy's Iowns and unincorporat- <br />ed areas. The worst was in 1993. <br />Although the Ihreat began in May, by <br />July floodwaIers threaIened mosI of <br />the county. <br /> <br />In Arnold, 500 families evacu- <br />ated areas near the Meramec River on <br />July 28. and on AuguSII, a main levee <br />along the Starling Airport Road <br />collapsed which released flood waIer <br />over a mobile home park. In Festus. <br />37 businesses and 35 houses were <br />flooded. Crystal City lost its water <br />treatment planI. its post office, Ihe <br />main inIersecIion in town was <br />flooded, and 30 families were forced <br />from their homes. In tiny Kimmswick <br />the threat of flooding. at one point, <br />caused the entire populaIion to <br />evacuate. <br /> <br />In Herculaneum. flood waters <br />covered the to\l.'O l s main intersection, <br />caused Ihe evacuation of Iwo trailer <br />courts, and forced The Doe Run lead <br />smelter, Ihe towns largest employer. <br />to shUI down. Al Kimmswick and <br />Herculaneum, Ihe Mississippi rose to <br />45 feet which was six feel higher than <br />iIs record crest in 1973; this water <br />forced hundreds from their houses <br />and flooded the downtown areas of <br />bOlh IownS.2 <br /> <br />The unincorporated parts of <br />Jefferson County were also flooded. <br /> <br />Page 38 <br /> <br />(Including Festus and Crystal City) I <br /> <br />Rising water from the Big River <br />forced 200 people out of Irailer courts <br />and isolated houses. Flood waIer <br />covered roads and isolated people <br />including the 30 residents of the <br />hamlet of Sulpher Springs. All along <br />the banks of the Mississippi, Mer- <br />amec, and Big River, throughout Ihe <br />month of July. hundreds of Jefferson <br />County residents joined Iogether in <br />spontaneous groups dictated by <br />geography to build makeshift levees <br />proIecting mobile homes and houses. <br /> <br />On Sunday, July 18, Jeffer- <br />son County officials meI in Hillsboro <br />to assess the damage. and to make <br />contingency plans for recovery. The <br />county"s economic development di- <br />rector. Patrick Lamping, reported that <br />350 businesses in the counIy had been <br />forced 10 close. sewers had collapsed <br />or were backed up. 3.000 workers <br />were involuntarily idle. S800.000 in <br />wages had been 10sI. and retail sales <br />had declined by S2.5 million. <br /> <br />Bill Koehrer, the county's <br />director of public works reported that <br />14 roads in the county were <br />underwater. and an official from <br />Union Electric reported that 400 <br />people were without power. Jefferson <br />CounIy Presiding Commissioner. Eliz- <br />abeIh Faulkenberry noted that by July <br />20, the counIy had spent "$975,000 <br />on !lood prevenIion and emergency <br />services."3 <br /> <br />By the evening of July 31, <br />county officials told levee builders <br />and residents 10 stop working and to <br />evacuate. With river crests predicted <br /> <br />However, levees in Colum- <br />bia and Valmeyer. llIinois, broke. <br />This ruined Ihousands of acres of <br />Illinois farmland, but it eased the <br />pressure on dozens of Jefferson <br />County levees. Water levels dropped <br />at Arnold, FesIus. Crystal City, and <br />Kimmswick. The dropping level of <br />the Mississippi also eased the <br />backtlow on the Meramec and Big <br />Rivers. On Monday, August 2, it <br />looked as if the worst was over. <br />Kimmswick Mayor MarIha PatIerson <br />could boast. "We've fought it. and <br />we're winning."s <br /> <br />During the next week, the <br />Ihreat of flooding seemed to be <br />passed. The cities and hamlets of <br />Jefferson County began to clean up. <br />In CrysIal City and Festus, ciIy <br />officials called for volunteers 10 <br />remove the sandbags, and Rick <br />Turley, City Administrator for Fes- <br />tus, invited other municipaliIies to <br />bring their discarded sandbags 10 <br />Festus. The sand could be used 10 <br />build an extension onto Ihe runways <br />at Ihe FesIus Municipal Airport. <br /> <br />Herculaneum officials <br />cleaned up refuse from the flood off <br />Iheir streeIs, and Elizabeth Faulken- <br />berry and the oIher Jefferson CounIy <br />