CAPE GIRARDEAU OFFICIALS: FLOOD BUYOUT IS TOO COSTLY

At 73, Woody Sadler figures he's too old to fight Mother Nature. He would rather move.

Sadler and many of his Red Star neighbors want to be bought out, but Cape Girardeau officials said the federal buyout program could cost the city $250,000 to $300,000. The money would be the local match to buy and demolish some 40 structures in four areas of the city.

The city also would own and maintain the lots.

Under the Federal Emergency Management Agency program, the land would have to be maintained as open space, such as parks or parking lots.

City officials don't want to be saddled with a checkerboard of small lots.

City development services coordinator Ken Eftink said the buyout might be more feasible if limited to specific neighborhoods.

The city staff has considered buying a square block area of the Red Star neighborhood and turning it into a softball field. An organization such as the Red Star Baptist Church might maintain the field, Eftink said.

Ultimately, the council would have to approve any buyout plan.

Sadler said Tuesday a buyout would be best, both for the community and for flood-weary residents.

The city wouldn't need as much sand for sandbags, and cleanup costs would be less, he said.

Sadler and his wife, Virgie, live at 1407 Water St. in a modest, frame home with green siding. They have lived there 46 years.

But twice in the last two years, the Sadlers have seen their home threatened by Mississippi River floodwaters.

Sadler is tired of the floods, the mud, the sandbags and the pumps.

Seated on his small front porch, Sadler pointed to the homes of his neighbors. They are tired, too, of fighting the floods, he said.

Sadler's home wasn't threatened by floods for 44 years. But times have changed.

Sadler attributed the increased flood problem to levees built farther north along the river.

He predicted the flooding would only get worse.

"If you don't buy this community out, pretty soon it is going to drown out," he said.

In 1993, floodwaters stood nearly 3 feet deep in his yard. At the height of this year's flood, water stood 7 inches deep.

In the '93 flood, more than 10,000 sandbags were used to build a makeshift levee around his home. Pumps ran 24 hours a day, keeping the water from his home.

"It is a hard thing to fight," said Sadler, who has had two heart bypass operations since 1976.

On Monday, Sadler appealed to the City Council to move ahead with the buyout program.

But Eftink said it isn't that easy.

The city budget doesn't include buyout money.

The city staff has identified 80 structures, most of them homes, that are threatened by floodwaters whenever the river reaches 45 feet on the Cape Girardeau gauge.

The count includes 42 structures in the Red Star neighborhood, 22 in Smelterville, 14 in the Meadowbrook area and two on Highway 177.

The list includes seven warehouses and vacant commercial structures, including a closed-down service station.

Eftink estimated no more than half the affected property owners would want a buyout.

He said residents should contact him at 334-8326 if they are interested in a buyout.

The buyout program is purely voluntary.

FEMA will pay 75 percent of the cost for properties covered by flood insurance and 50 percent for those not covered.

The city has to pay the rest, unless federal block grant money is made available to towns.

That was done for the 1993 flood. But, so far, such aid hasn't been made available for the 1995 flood.

Eftink said city officials will look into securing grant money, if such funds become available.