COMMERCE SLOWLY REBUILDS, AWAITS COMING SPRING

COMMERCE -- It was once the biggest port city on the Mississippi River between St. Louis and Memphis, not to mention the county seat of Scott County. Since it was founded in 1790, the village of Commerce lived through some of the toughest times history had to deal.

But the summer of 1993 dealt Commerce a devastating blow, with floodwaters that all but destroyed about half of the village. Now, several tired, heartbroken residents are ready to leave their village behind, in search of higher, drier ground.

In October, a 3-2 vote of the village board rejected a proposal to take steps to initiate a federal buyout of the flood-ravaged city. All hope of salvation from the wrath of the rising river dried up, but the floodwaters returned for another three weeks as a grim reminder of what had been ... and perhaps what is to come.

"We're at a virtual standstill right now," said Roy Jones, who has lived in Commerce for almost four years and serves on the village board.

"I know of five families who have left their homes and will never return," he said. "There are others who would like to leave but cannot afford to leave their homes behind. No one wants to buy houses down here, so what are they to do?"

In the dead of winter, the Mississippi River rolls lazily past Commerce, well within it's banks. Now it is hard to imagine the 49-foot crest of the summer of 1993, which pushed the banks of the river all the way to City Hall in the center of town. But dead trees and bushes, the absence of vegetation, sidewalks still covered with silt, sludge and sand, and buildings still stained by murky floodwaters serve as bleak reminders of what had been.

"Our water is just becoming potable again," said Jones. "People came back and cleaned up their homes after the water first receded, and then the river came up again. That was a real blow to a lot of people.

"Residents are fed up with the water, the depression, the polluted water supply, the mosquitoes and everything else the Mississippi River dumped on us this summer," he said. "People just want to get out of the water; let their lives return to normal."

Rejection of the FEMA buyout dampened spirits of a lot of residents, Jones said. But this week Commerce approved a study to determine the viability of a levee system to protect Commerce.

"Frankly I think the river is going to come back to Commerce again this spring," said Jones. "If you add the heavy snowfall up north to normal spring rains, the saturated ground around here isn't going to be able to take it. I've heard that they are predicting an even higher crest this year."

Jones' home was not damaged by the flood. although water came within inches.

"Before the flood I had ordered new windows and siding for my house," he said. "After the water went down, the contractors put the windows and siding on. Now I wish they hadn't."

When FEMA was in Commerce in September explaining the buyout plan, they told residents that if the village board was not honoring the wishes of its constituents board members should be replaced.

When the filing dates opened early this month three people came forward to do just that.

"The fight is not over by any means," said Jones. "People are coming forward to replace the board members who voted against the buyout. They are fed up and want to take control of their lives again."

Those who have filed are Tommy Cox, Marie Mayberry and Riley Mayberry, people who attended the FEMA meetings and urged the village board to act appropriately -- in the interest of the residents.

Ann Huck, chairman of the board of trustees, sees things differently.

"I would say that things are coming around slowly," said Huck. "It takes time; people don't understand that.

"I have lived in the same house for 55 years," she said. "In that time we've lived through many floods. People have to learn to live with it, to face it head on and to go on living after the water recedes."

Huck said her house was surrounded by floodwater last summer, but it never reached the first floor. She and her husband continued to live in the house without power or potable water because of looters. "We didn't want anyone getting into our home and stealing our things.

"People are talking about what might happen this spring, all worried that it might flood again," she said. "Over the years I've found that you can't let things like that get you down. You just have to move ahead and repair what needs to be repaired so that you can go on living.

"A little bit of mud in my basement is not going to make me leave my home," she said.

Huck is one of the three board members who voted against the buyout. In addition, she is not crazy about the idea of having a levee around the community.

"This summer we could see the flood coming, slowly inching toward the city every day," she said. "You never know what is going on behind a levee; if it breaks, you've got a real mess on your hands."

When news of Commerce's battle with the river got out, cities and service organizations came forward to help.

The cities of Commerce, Texas, Portsmouth, N.H., and Westview, Penn., sent about $5,000 to help the city rebuild. Just last week the Free Masons gave the city $10,000. The money will be used to repave streets and clean sidewalks.

The post office is still being operated out of the Commerce Baptist Church. There are no plans of it returning to the little white building that was consumed by floodwaters last summer.

"I would like to seem Commerce be cleaned up and grow; to be something we can be proud of again," said Jones. "But everyone would have to pull together to do what is best for the town.

"People don't want to do too much right now," he said. "They are all waiting for the spring to see if it happens again. If it does, I'm afraid Commerce will die."