Some Allenville residents evacuate; levees proclaimed as sound

Some residents of Allenville packed up belongings and began evacuating Monday as floodwaters threatened the small Cape Girardeau County town.

The county's emergency management agency, in conjunction with the Cape Girardeau County Commission and the sheriff's department, issued a voluntary evacuation order, advising residents in Allenville and low-lying areas near the rain-swollen Diversion Channel to leave before flooding closes area roads.

As the flood threat grew throughout the region, U.S. Rep. Jason Smith, R-Mo., and about a dozen key figures in local emergency management gathered at Cape Girardeau's fire station No. 3 on North Sprigg Street to discuss the situation.

The meeting included representatives from the city of Cape Girardeau, Cape Girardeau County, the Army Corps of Engineers, emergency personnel and others.

Cape Girardeau County emergency management director Richard Knaup voiced concern about the flood threat to local agriculture.

U.S. Rep. Jason Smith listens as Cape Girardeau's storm water coordinator, Stan Polivick, talks Monday about the rising level of the Mississippi River. (Laura Simon)

"This summer we had a drought, then now we have more water than we know what to do with," he said.

Smith, the 8th District congressman, said the flooding is widespread.

"All 30 counties in our congressional district are flooding, some worse than others," he noted.

Officials at the meeting sought to reassure the public this flooding won't rise to the damaging level of the historic flood of 1993.

Jeff Derrick, area engineer for the Corps, said the levee system is in good shape, but that doesn't mean there won't be flooding in some areas.

Tom O'Loughlin and his friends and employees work Monday to move his 50,000 bushels of corn and 38,000 bushels of beans from his farm in Allenville. "We're gonna try and beat the high water if we can," O'Loughlin said. His friends Michael and Phillip Hulshof, Dwayne and Marcus Birk, Ronnie Amelunke, Ray Obermann and Codi Latte were helping O'Loughlin move his grain. (Laura Simon)

"If we reach the crests [that are being predicted], there's going to be some districts that get over-topped," Derrick said, referring to levee districts in Perry and Ste. Genevieve counties.

During the flood of 1993, which crested at similar levels, there were issues with some levees being undercut by floodwaters.

But that, Derrick said, was near the end of a monthslong flood.

This time, river levels are expected to recede to flood stage within about a week and a half.

While an over-topped levee means a degree of flooding, it won't necessarily compromise the levee's integrity.

The relative brevity of the coming flood should mean levees will be safe from undercutting, Derrick said.

He said since the Corps of Engineers protocols mostly have been implemented, flood response was a waiting game.

"The thing about this one is it's coming up on us fast, I don't know there's enough time to do anything at this point," Derrick said.

In Allenville, some residents weren't willing to wait.

"Right now, a lot of people are leaving," said Phil Thompson, a lifelong resident of the town of about 100 people.

Water already has covered County Road 233, he said. County roads 238 and 241 still were open Monday, but Thompson predicted both of those would be impassable by Wednesday.

He warned area agricultural levees could break, adding to the problem.

Thompson said he plans to stay just as he has done during countless other floods that have threatened the town.

Since 1973, Allenville has been hit by 12 floods, he said. During flooding in 1993 and 1995, roads were impassable for about six weeks, and an old railroad trestle over the Diversion Channel was used to transport supplies into and out of the town.

But last year, the Jackson, Gordonville and Delta Railroad removed the tracks that had been in disrepair. As a result, Thompson said, that emergency access has been eliminated.

"Now when the roads go under, access will be strictly by boat," he said.

Thompson said flooding will occur over several days.

"It is not like it is going to come in, in one big wave, like a tsunami," he said.

Thompson said most of the floods he has experienced have occurred in the spring. A December flood is rare, he said.

Allenville was last hit by flooding in May 2011.

Thompson said the Mississippi River would have to crest at Cape Girardeau at about 52 feet, 20 feet over flood stage, before his home would be swamped by the flooded Diversion Channel. Thompson, whose health has declined in recent years, said if his home floods, he will likely leave Allenville for good.

Allenville resident Gerald Sebastian and his family prepared to evacuate their mobile home Monday afternoon, Sebastian, who has lived in Allenville since 1983, said he and his family were going to move in temporarily with in-laws in Perkins, Missouri. Sebastian and family members spent part of the day raising furniture and other items in the mobile home in an effort to protect them from flooding.

"We pretty well got things put up as high as we can," he noted.

Sebastian, who is retired, said he has experienced flooding in his mobile home before, but this may be his last.

"I am getting too old to fix it up anymore," he said.

Tom O'Loughlin worked to move tens of thousands of bushels of stored corn and beans he owns out of harm's way, using 10 trucks for the task.

"We are going to try to beat the high water if we can," he said.

Cape Girardeau County Presiding Commissioner Clint Tracy said the most pressing concern was the flood threat in the Allenville area.

"We know the water is coming," he said.

Stan Polivick, Cape Girardeau's city stormwater coordinator, said necessary precautions have been taken, and nearly all the flood gates have been closed. The last one, he said, should be closed no later than Wednesday morning. He said during a flood event, his department monitors the river levels regularly.

"This is a different event than in '93 in a lot of ways," Polivick said at the meeting of emergency preparedness officials. "So we'll just have to wait and see."

Cape Girardeau Fire Chief Rick Ennis seemed to sum up the prevailing attitude near the end of the meeting: Improvements since the last record flood have placed the area in a far better position this time around.

mbliss@semissourian.com

(573) 388-3641

tgraef@semissourian.com

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