Business notebook: Popular water resort The Landing reopens after flood

About one week after President Donald Trump approved Missouri Gov. Eric Greitens' request for a disaster declaration, popular floating center The Landing in Van Buren, Missouri, reopened.

Owner Tom Bedell said Friday he and his staff have been working "frantically" in preparation for the summer months.

"We actually put a few people out on Wednesday and Thursday, and this is kind of our first full day of floating," he said.

The Landing is on the banks of the Current River, with 52 rooms, plus suites and a house for rent. It rents out about 110 rafts, 100 canoes, 40 to 50 kayaks and thousands of inner tubes for patrons to float, Bedell said.

So when flooding hit Missouri earlier this year, it was one the businesses that sustained damage.

Flooding damage to The Landing in Van Buren, Missouri, is seen in early May after a record flood on the Current River.Submitted

"The flood actually got into our second-story rooms," Bedell said. "It completely engulfed the 11 lower rooms, and it got into the 10 second-story rooms about three feet. It got into our restaurant three feet and our river store three feet."

It has reopened its restaurant and store and hopes to have the second-story rooms ready by next weekend, Bedell said.

The worst-hit first-floor rooms should be ready the following week, he said.

"We've got to get them ready pretty quick, because I believe we're booked up the weekend of the 23rd and 24th," he said. "So we've got to have our rooms back in operation."

And the damage wasn't just to the lodgings.

Canoers in the Current River near Van Buren, Missouri, are seen.Submitted

"We lost all 23 buses and 13 vans in the flood, and so we have been going all over the country, looking for vans and buses, and we think that we've acquired enough for this weekend," he said.

So far, he said, The Landing has found three replacement buses and half-dozen vans, with four more on the way.

"And we'll be out looking for more next week. It's gonna be hard to get people to the river if we don't have a vehicle. Some of this stuff is really hard to find once you start looking for it in bulk," he said.

Greitens even paid Bedell's business a visit to survey the damage.

"This was a historic flood. ... It was pretty much catastrophic," Bedell said. "It damaged or totally damaged like 188 houses and 38 businesses here in Van Buren. It's a tremendous economic blow to the community because of the timing going into our summer season here."

But that summer season should provide the economic boost to help those affected recover, he said.

"When we get into our busy, busy weekends, we may end up putting three or four thousand people out (on the river), so we've got to be ready," he said. "Over the course of the summer, we may put out 40,000 people.

"That's why we've been working night and day to get open to try to get our tourist business up and running, get people over here and hopefully help the economy a little."

As of Friday, the opening weekend was going well. And Bedell said the phone lines were heating up with eager floaters.

"I hope that people will know that the people of Van Buren, we're very dependent on our tourist business," Bedell said. "And we hope people will check the social media and the newspapers and television and see we're back open and come visit us."

Chateau Girardeau named 5-star facility

The Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services awarded The Chateau Girardeau the highest-possible rating, five stars.

Published in the most recent quarterly ratings by the center, The Chateau Girardeau is the only skilled-nursing facility in Cape Girardeau to receive the rating.

"We are extremely proud of our clinical team and their commitment to provide the highest level of care to residents of The Chateau Girardeau," Keith Boeller, president and CEO of Chateau Girardeau, said in a news release.

The rating was based on several factors, including health inspections, staffing and quality measures.

Mondi Jackson cites worker anniversaries

Mondi Jackson LLC celebrated the following service anniversaries:

• Carolyn Keller, 20 years
• Gregory Brown, 10 years
• Caleb Craft, 10 years
• Christopher Gunter, five years
• Tammy Crites, five years
• Chris Slater, five years
• James Steiner, five years

Employees Sheila Huey, Jake Hardesty and Eric Cathcart were named employees of the month for April, May and June, respectively.

tgraef@semissourian.com

(573) 388-3627n