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and 17 of them had persuaded the city government 10 invesIigaIe the buyOUI opIion and to put their names on a list as inIerested candidaIes. Their 17 houses were valued aI S343,000. Crystal City's City Clerk. Debbie Johns, felt that "Ihis was an opportunity for them [the owners] to have a base to purchase a house somewhere else."'13 One reason for the generally positive response to a buyout was the altitude many Jefferson Coumy residents had towards SEMA and FEMA. Ihe two agencies Ihey knew would administer any buyout pro- gram. In the '93 flood bOlh agencies had collectively been responsible for finding most of Ihe relief dollars to help flood victims. For instance. Stephen and Donna Roberts, whose mobile home was in Fenton (part of Ihe Iown is in Jefferson County). praised FEMA for helping them wiIh emergency money 10 repair their mobile home and help them with remal of a new mobile home pad. "They [FEMA] came down to Mc- Donald. s in Arnold and the place was full of families. But in 10 minutes we gave them all Ihe information they needed and [we] were on our way." 14 FErvIA's word of mourh reputation had already gone a long way towards legiIimaIizing the buy- OuI process. People in the area had every reason 10 expect a similar level of help from the Iwo agencies during a bUYOUI effort. With a head start, Jefferson CounIy. including Festus and Crystal CiIy. sent its municipal ofticials to Jetferson CiIy to meet wiIh Governor Carnahan's BuyOUI Review Commit- Page 40 tee on December 29. 1993.15 Once that commiltee heard a presentation. it either rejected an applicaIion, or recommended iI to the Governor. The Governor then made the requesI to FEMA. By March 5. all applicants had received positive answers from FEMA. Jefferson County received S3.5 million. The grant allowed Jefferson County to begin negotia- tions on 91 flood damaged houses as well as Covered Bridge Mobile Home Park and Blue Bell Mobile Home Park. ElizabeIh Faulkenberry told the Post thaI the money would "help a lot of people and will prevent Red Cross volunteers deliver meals to victims and emergency workers. properties from being flooded again in future years with the government paying for repairs."' Arnold. Festus. and Crystal CiIy submilted requests. and these towns received positive news also. Arnold received $4.1 million to buy 89 homes as well as several trailer courts. Crystal CiIy received S232,800 10 buy 17 homes. and Festus received $288.000 10 buy 15. These Ihree cities and Jefferson County submilted requesIs for community developmenI block grams to add 10 this buyout money. Some communiIy development block grant funds could be used for buyouts. and some could be used to pay for adminisIrati ve costs, demolition. and moving ex- penses of buyout participams.1fi A reminder of what the buyout program was supposed to prevent came in April. 1994. when three days of heavy rain dropped ten inches of rain over Ihe Big River and Meramec River basins. The Ihreat of flooding returned to some areas in Jefferson CounIy. Along the Big River, the tiny settlemenIs of Cedar Hill and Morse Mill experienced the waters rising so suddenly that residents had to be evacuat- ed by helicopIer or boat. At Arnold. floodwa- ters rose to within three feet of the crest in 1993. and several residents who had resisted the idea of a buyout said they would reconsider. Jerry Dunn, who spenI April 10 and II sandbagging his house near the Starling Airport Road. told Tim O'Neil of the Post Dispatch Ihat he had moved back to his house after the flood of '93 "because he never could gel much infonnation about federal buyouts.". He said, "[he.d] study it harder Ihis time."'17 Soon after the flooding in April. Jefferson County and its municipaliIies hegan Ihe mechanics of the bUYOUI process. Festus, Cry sIal City. and Jefferson CounIy all hired appraisers to assess the pre-flood value of houses. In Festus. under the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966.