RISING RIVER KEEPS PEOPLE FROM HOMES

For some Cape Girardeau residents whose property was damaged by this summer's floods, another rise in the Mississippi this week has thwarted any attempt to return to water-logged homes.

The National Weather Service in St. Louis Tuesday revised its river forecast upward, projecting a 42-foot crest in Cape Girardeau on Thursday. The river stage was at 41.2 feet Tuesday and expected to rise to 41.8 feet today.

Mark Hashheider, emergency operations coordinator for the city, said most of the areas in the city that are threatened by the rising water are those regions hardest hit by this summer's flood, which crested at just over 49 feet.

"Once again, the areas where the water's really coming up are down on South Sprigg Street and in Red Star, mostly around Second and Water streets," Hashheider said. "Most of the homes that are affected now sustained the heaviest damage from the first flood.

"Of course, they're the first to be affected and the last areas from where the water receded."

Hashheider said it's not likely any of the homes now being flooded have been occupied since the flood's first go-around.

"I think the owners had cleaned some of them and removed the debris, but to my knowledge, none of them had actually been repaired to any extent," he said.

Before the record flood of 1993, any time the river rose above 40 feet, there was cause for anxiety. But Hashheider admitted most residents aren't alarmed by the projected 42-foot crest, given the earlier river levels.

To those people unable to return to their damaged homes, though, there's little difference between a home that's under water at 42 feet and one that's inundated at 49 feet.

"I think a lot of people have probably reached their limit," Hashheider said. "It gets a little frustrating when you're planning to clean your home and all the sudden the water's back up again."

Despite the rising river, Hashheider said the city has no plans to restrict traffic in large sections of South Cape or Red Star or to implement curfews as was done earlier.

And if the forecast for sunny, dry weather through the end of the week holds, Hashheider said he sees no reason to change those plans.

Regardless, the constant threat of rising water isn't likely to wane for a long time.

"For a layman as myself to look at it, we are into our fall rainy season, we'll go into our winter season very soon, and then we'll go into another rainy season in the spring," he said. "With all the water that's fallen to the north of us, the ground saturation is very high."

Hashheider said that unless there's an unusually dry winter, the spring rains are likely to continue to swell those creeks and streams that empty into the Mississippi, which increases the likelihood for more flooding. Even normal fall and winter precipitation could be a threat.

"It's not over for us," he said. "I could see us having flooding problems off and on until next summer."