Commerce drying out as levee breach lowers water levels

COMMERCE, Mo. -- Harold Kraft has yielded an early and unusual crop from his garden this spring -- catfish.

The lifelong Commerce resident is mostly boating around these days due to the Mississippi River inundating the yard and front steps at his Water Street home. The floodwaters began to recede Tuesday after the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers breached the Birds Point-New Madrid Floodway.

"When they blew up that levee, it sucked the water out of this joint," said Alan Wright, a Commerce business owner. "We could watch it fall out of town. You would have never believed it would have done that."

Kraft said he saw the river go down about a foot a day until Thursday, and since then it's decreased about a tenth of a foot per day. While he's seen the Mississippi creep up on his residence several times before -- in 1995 and in 2008 -- it was only this spring he and his wife contemplated leaving.

"This time it made me think about it. We're getting too old. The older you get, the less you enjoy this mess," said Kraft, 68. "I won't be able to fight off these waters when I'm 80."

The river began flooding Commerce about a week ago, causing some home?owners to flee. Scott County Sheriff's Department Sgt. Dane Stausing said law enforcement never ordered Commerce residents to evacuate, many just left on their own.

"Some left when it got real bad," said Stausing, who was patrolling the city and monitoring the levee Sunday.

While law enforcement will continue to patrol Commerce, Scott County deputies and the National Guard ceased around-the-clock monitoring of the city at 5 p.m. Sunday.

The breach of a private agricultural levee Monday night that flooded thousands of acres of farmland and sent more water into the city wasn't enough to force Darriel Williams, another longtime resident, out of the home he has lived in for more than 30 years. Williams built his own levee last week when water poured into his yard and covered the driveway to his home. The river normally sits around 500 feet from his home, Williams said, but came up to fewer than 20 feet from his front door.

"We didn't get any water in the house. But, believe it or not, I've never seen it this high. It broke all the records from the '37 flood," he said. "It's just Mother Nature, though. You can't beat it. You can't do anything about it."

In a month, Williams added, he may not have his driveway back completely because he anticipates having to rebuild it. But he'll be working to have green grass back.

"I'll get this seeded, and in a month it'll look totally different," Williams said. "This is home. I don't want to be anywhere else."

Reggie Pearson also has no plans to leave the city that has battled floodwaters regularly. The Mississippi River inundated his home in 1993, 1995 and 2008, and this spring it destroyed his belongings in the residence that has been in his family for years.

"I moved as much as I could, but I lost everything" that was left, Pearson said.

The river flooded his home quickly and left him standing in waist-high water last week as he tried to save a few things, like his televisions and air conditioners. On Sunday, Pearson evaluated where to start clean up. Mud stained the outside of his residence, with a high-water mark about five feet off the ground. The 33-year-old will start over, he said, and has no plans to move.

"This was my grandpa's house," Pearson said. "I'll be here for the rest of my life. Commerce is peace and quiet. I'm staying."

ehevern@semissourian.com

388-3635

Pertinent address:

Commerce, MO