COAST GUARD PATROLS FLOODWATERS, HELPS STRANDED RESIDENTS

Pat Hale needed some clothes, toys and other personal items from her home, which is partially submerged in flood waters on North Main street.

When she called the city for help, officials referred her to the U.S. Coast Guard unit presently stationed in Cape Girardeau.

Two modified John boats manned by Coast Guard personnel "drove" Hale to her house, boosted her onto the back roof and helped her unload boxes and bags of her belongings from a second-story window into the boats.

"There's four feet of water in my first floor," Hale said. She was very wary of the presence of snakes while wading through the main floor of her home. "I pray to God I don't find any snakes down here I really hate snakes," she said.

Before heading back, Hale insisted that the Coast Guard reservists check on a neighbor who was racing to remove her things from her home before the flood waters washed over her floors.

The boat the neighbor was using was taking on water, requiring a teenage girl to constantly bail it out with 32-ounce plastic cup.

"These people are here to help us," Hale told her friend. "They can get some of your things if you want."

Hale's friend asked the Coast Guard to return later to check on her.

About 24 members of the U.S. Coast Guard Reserve stationed in Paducah and Nashville were summoned to Cape Girardeau Monday to assist in the flood relief effort.

The unit will stay in the area for about two weeks, or until a need for their services no longer exists.

"We're here to assist residents in moving out, to look for people who might be stranded in their homes and to remove potentially dangerous debris like propane tanks, gas tanks or other hazardous objects from the water," said Petty Officer Patty Walsh. "So basically, we're here to help out wherever we can."

When Coast Guard members encountered Howard Knapp wading around what was once his back yard which now looks more like a tidal pool he sent them away.

"We need a levee around here," Knapp said. "I don't know where my tax money is going, but I know that it should be spent building a levee so this kind of thing wouldn't happen."

Knapp, 73, was returning to his home at 1121 N. Main to retrieve some items he had left behind. He insisted that he did not need help.

"If I need some help, I'll call the president," Knapp said, surveying his vines laden with red grapes. "I've been here 25 years, and no flood is going to keep me away."

The Coast Guard reservists split into two teams, one on the south end of the city, the other at the north.

The southern team got an early start when the Rev. Ed Carr asked them to retrieve some of his clothes from his trailer, which is submerged just outside the city limits on South Sprigg Street.

The reservists mainly follow the course of the streets, moving slowly through the water, trying not to stir up waves which could cause damage to the homes.

Water flowed through the silent houses as the crews drove through the northern end of the flood zone. Some people tied their porch swings up high before abandoning their homes to head for higher, drier ground.

Some left windows and doors open to let the water flow freely through the house. Other's tried to fend it off by tightly shutting their windows and barricading doors.

Cape Girardeau police officers are also navigating the flood waters in a fishing boat, looking for looters, curfew violators and enforcing a "no wake" rule.

"Residents coming in and out of the area in boats are told not to make waves, because that's what causes the damage to the buildings," said Lt. Dale Ratliff. "It's the waves boats or four-wheel-drive vehicles cause that knocks out windows."

Ratliff was asked by Police Chief Howard Boyd Jr. to arrange a boat patrol by boat early this week.

"He knows that I had access to fishing boats and that I know the area real well," Ratliff said.

His mother once owned a small store on South Sprigg; Ratliff would assist her in moving everything out when the flood waters climbed into the south end of the city.

Ratliff and the animal control officers at the police department try to patrol the north and south ends of town at least once daily.

"We're mixing it up some," he said. "We don't want people to be expecting us at any particular time."

The officers are not only watching the area for trespassers, but also are looking for animals left behind by flood victims. The last family moved out of the flood-ravaged southern end of the city Tuesday.

"We want to leave things as they were as much as we can," Ratliff said. "We're just making sure no one is down here."