EMERSON TOURS BOIS BRULE LEVEE

PERRYVILLE -- Rep. Jo An Emerson wants a better levee system for the Bois Brule Levee District.

"I am confident that we can come up with a plan that will protect Perry County and its residents for generations to come," she said during a tour of the levee with members of the local levee district.

Emerson, who has supported levee and flood protection legislation in the 105th Congress, is seeking funding to build a stronger levee to protect eastern Perry County from flooding.

Emerson, Francis Toohey, legal council for the levee district, board members Don Gremaud and Wilbur Earnst and others discussed the levee during the Saturday session.

In 1993, the levee broke, and flooding heavily damaged two major industries -- Sabreliner Corp, which has an aircraft maintenance and repair facility at the Perryville Municipal Airport, and Gilster-Mary Lee, which produces cake mixes in a large facility at McBride.

The airport, the town of McBride, and many other Perry County areas were under water when the levee broke during the Flood of 1993 and more than 100 families were displaced.

A feasibility study was under way for a 100-year levee when it broke. The feasibility study for a new levee is to be completed in December.

Traffic costs during the flood were estimated at an additional $175,000 a day while roads were closed in the area between Perryville and Chester, Ill.

Emerson's office agreed to provide a revised update of what those costs would be now. Included in the update will be a revised traffic count for major area roads.

The latest feasibility study will be completed by December of this year. The U.S. Corps of Engineers is seeking funding to start work on the levee improvements as soon as the study is completed.

"When the level broke in 1993, land was lost, businesses were damaged and hundreds of families lost their livelihoods," said Emerson. "It is imperative that we use all resources available in a cooperative effort to minimize that devastation from striking this community again."

The U.S. House gave a boost to Southeast Missouri flood control projects late last week, passing the Energy and Water Appropriations Act late Friday by a vote of 418 to 7.

Projects in the legislation included a number of local projects, including $1.5 million to strengthen the levee from Commerce to Bird's Point, $3 million for initial construction of the St. John's New Madrid Floodway project, $1.8 million for continued construction of the Cape Girardeau LaCroix flood control project and funding for river ports at Scott City, New Madrid and Caruthersville.