DUTCHTOWN TURNS TO VETERAN OF FLOOD FIGHTS

DUTCHTOWN - Though he scoffs at any reference to the title of mayor, if the town of Dutchtown were incorporated and had such a position, Clarence Carnell would probably be it.

Carnell, who has lived in Dutchtown since 1964 and operates a wrecker service and garage, has emerged over the years as the man people look to for guidance when the waters of the Diversion Channel back up and threaten this small town at the intersection of Highways 25 and 74.

On Saturday Carnell was keeping watch over efforts to save Dutchtown with longtime fellow residents Fred Propst and John Avery. Nearly a month ago, Carnell and other residents made the decision to battle yet another flood. At the time, they had no idea the battle would last so long or require a sandbag levee so big - a much larger battle than they had waged in 1973, 1978 and 1983.

As the three stood alongside one of Dutchtown's four businesses - a secondhand store - Avery and Propst reflected on Carnell's leadership.

"Mayor Carnell," quipped Avery, has been a resident since 1968.

"There are no such words," shot back Carnell immediately. "They've been kidding me about that since '73."

"We pretty well do what he says," said Avery. "Anybody who wants to know anything, we just say, `See the guy in the red truck.'"

But Carnell is quick to downplay his role and describes himself as "just one of the guys who has handled getting supplies. Let's just say, I pushed while they pulled with me."

While all three have taken turns keeping a watch on the levees around the clock, Carnell admits the effort to save Dutchtown this time has grown far bigger than anything residents and volunteers can handle. The town of 30 homes and 125 citizens is threatened by water on two sides.

A huge sandbag and gravel levee runs along the middle of Highway 74 and across 25 to protect Dutchtown from the Diversion Channel to the south. But another sandbag levee - not quite as large but just as important - runs along the west side of town, providing protection from Hubble Creek, which would rise rapidly during a heavy rain.

The first levee, built to withstand a river crest of 47 feet on the Cape Girardeau gauge, was done primarily by volunteers. Carnell points out that resident Bill Geiser took charge of building that levee, which was nearly 6 feet high.

Last week the Corps of Engineers, National Guard and a contractor came in to strengthen the levee with gravel, raising it to as high as 10 feet and building a gravel base 15-20 feet wide.

"The first levee would not stand what's coming now," said Carnell. "This one now should be able to handle 50 feet.

"I don't think there is any way we could have held it without this gravel. You can only hold so much water with a sandbag levee."

Carnell, Avery and Propst proudly called off several dozen states that volunteers had come from to aid in the flood fight. On Saturday a man from Florida was helping out, and last week a trucker from Iowa, who couldn't get home, parked his rig for a day and went to work.

Carnell pointed out a man from Kennett, who was spending his weekends helping out up and down the river. "We hope this is your last weekend," Carnell told him.

Because of the extent of flooding, the national media has been focused on the Midwest, and Dutchtown has been in the spotlight as much as anyplace. National networks have visited Dutchtown and Carnell has been a prime interview target.

For the most part, however, Carnell shuns the spotlight and boasts of his ability to avoid interviews. "Most of the time I can get away, but you can't dodge them all," he said.

One of those Carnell did not dodge was the crew of "CBS This Morning" with Harry Smith, who Propst, a 43-year resident, believes could be the biggest celebrity to ever hit Dutchtown.

"He's about the easiest guy I've ever talked to in my life," said Carnell."

"He was very pleasant," said Propst.

A youngster bragged how he had helped fill a sand bag with Smith.

Many county and state political figures and their aides have also visited. But clearly their most popular political figure is Presiding Commissioner Gene Huckstep. "There has been a pretty nice bunch of people coming down here from the local level on up, but ole Huck, he's been a friend to all of us down here," said Avery.

Carnell credits Huckstep for getting Dutchtown the kind of help it needed. When Huckstep first called Carnell about whether the town was up to another river fight, his first reaction was negative. But after talking with others around town, Carnell decided they were up for one more battle.

"He's a hard man to say no to," said Carnell. "He didn't want to see us get wet any more than I did."

Had he known the kind of water that would be coming down the river, Carnell is not sure the town's residents would have waged the battle. But now that the battle is on, Carnell says the town intends to win.

"If I had known the water would be like this to start with, we might not have started it. But once you get it started, you would be a fool to back out," said Carnell.

Because of hills around the town, if the water broke through it would be confined to Dutchtown. Some have questioned the extensive efforts that have gone into saving the town, which includes a lot of older homes.

"It's worth it to us - our homes are here," said Avery.

To Carnell, the town has earned the right to be helped.

Said Carnell: "If we had sat on our behinds and then cried wolf when the water started coming that would be one thing. But we were working on our levee 10-12 days before we were even touched with water. I feel like we have earned the right to have whatever it takes done.... If you make an effort to help yourself, they will help you."

The war against the river will likely go on at least two more weeks, and once over there will be a massive cleanup effort that will likely draw few volunteers.

All three veteran floodfighters are looking forward to seeing life return to normal around Dutchtown and their time in the headlines over.

Will Dutchtown ever be the same?

"I believe it will, after the water goes down," Propst replied, predicting a bright future for the town. He admits a lot of the residents are old, but "as the old ones die, others will move back."

As they relaxed after touring the more than half-mile of levees, the three noted that flood battles like that in Dutchtown were being waged all over the Midwest.

Said Propst: "There are a lot of people a whole lot worse off than us."

Added Carnell: "Actually, we're in pretty good shape here."