FEMA tours Bollinger County

ZALMA, Mo. -- At the Twin Bridges RV Park along the Castor River, Don Ezell lives in a home with a floor about nine feet off the ground.

While floodwaters didn't get into his home last week, huge logs are pinned against the 4-by-4 posts holding up the deck, rushing water washed away almost all the dirt around a concrete base holding up another post and the main stairway was ripped away.

Ezell said he didn't have much time to worry about what was happening to his home and business last week other than to help haul trailers and RVs out of the park in advance of the rising water. By the time he thought about himself, he said, "we had painted ourselves in a corner. I had no money, no wallet and no cell phone."

His washing machine and dryer is ruined, water rushed through the concession stand and numerous electrical boxes for campers will have to be fixed in order to make them serviceable before the 400-campsite facility is reopened for the year.

All that totals up to major damage, flood assessment workers from the Federal Emergency Management Agency agreed Wednesday as they spoke with Ezell during a tour of Bollinger County to determine whether enough people have enough damage that the region deserves a disaster declaration offering help to individuals.

The team of five FEMA employees, led by Patrick Duncan, an emergency management officer with the State Emergency Management Agency, spent most of the day visiting homes and businesses, talking about how high the water rose, what damage occurred and whether the people have insurance. The team is one of 41 deployed throughout the state. The team that visited Zalma and other locations along the Castor River on Wednesday will do flood damage evaluations in Cape Girardeau County today, including visits to Allenville, Dutchtown and Delta. The team met Wednesday morning with Cape Girardeau County emergency operations officials and representatives from Jackson and Cape Girardeau.

The damage assessments will be followed later in the day by visits to Allenville and Dutchtown by FEMA administrator R. David Paulison, who will be joined by Lt. Gov. Peter Kinder and other officials as he tours flood-damaged regions around the state.

AARON EISENHAUER ~ aeisenhauer@semissourian.com Paul Keithley, a disaster assistance employee with FEMA, looked to Doyle Parmer as he gathered information about damages caused by heavy rains and flooding in Cape Girardeau County during a meeting with county officials Wednesday at the Cape Girardeau County administrative building in Jackson.

The assessments are not designed to make detailed inventories of damage, Duncan said. "We are just counting doorknobs right now," he said.

Along with knowing whether a property suffered any damage, a brief evaluation of the severity of the damage is also part of the process, Duncan said. "The amount of water is important," he said. "Six inches is wet. Four feet is another story."

Last week, President Bush issued declared 70 counties in Missouri a disaster area as heavy rains, including almost 13 inches at Cape Girardeau, sent rivers and streams spilling out over vast areas. But that declaration, said FEMA spokesman Jack Heesch, covered only the provision of federal help to save lives and protect property. The next step is to determine whether the damage is enough to warrant federal assistance to individuals through grants and low-interest loans, he said.

If aide to individuals is approved, FEMA will set up application centers in the eligible areas for residents to learn about the programs, make applications and provide proof of their damage.

AARON EISENHAUER ~ aeisenhauer@semissourian.com "That was my favorite picture there," said Doyle Parmer, holding a photo salvaged from the basement of his Dutchtown home. "Makes me want to go to tears."

"Structures that could be considered substantially damaged would be considered for buyouts," said Bob George, a FEMA mitigation analyst.

The assessment teams will make a second sweep through flood-damaged areas next week to determine if the damages were significant enough to trigger federal support for repairs to public property, he said.

The totals are starting to come in for flood damage and the cost of the major ice storm that hit the region Feb. 11. In Scott County on Tuesday, county emergency management director Joel Evans told the county commission that the ice storm caused $250,000 in damage throughout the county, while the floods caused another $500,000.

The Missouri Department of Transportation reported Wednesday that 14 roads are still closed due to high water or damage in the Southeast Missouri district, including Route W in Scott County from Route CC to Route P due to a damaged bridge.

The Mississippi River at Cape Girardeau was 38.2 feet late Wednesday afternoon, 6.2 feet above flood stage. The river forecast issued at 9:25 a.m. Wednesday predicted the river would fall below flood stage by Saturday morning, but additional rain in the forecast for today and later in the week could delay that fall. The National Weather Service issued a statement predicting thunderstorms capable of producing 1 to 2 inches of rain would be in the region today and Friday, with possibly heavier localized amounts.

Another round of showers and thunderstorms is likely in the region Sunday night through Monday night.

Some signs of normalcy have returned to the Zalma area -- students are in school and at Lemons Gas and Groceries, groceries are available, although gas isn't. The storm put about 27 inches of water in the store, ruined the furnace, broke the hot water heater, tore a sign off and caused floor tiles to come loose.

"We have cleaned for a week," said Jennifer Sneed, who runs the business with her father.

Some of the worst damage from the storms was visible in the April Hills area of Bollinger County, where rescuers used treacherous paths over wooded hills to reach stranded residents last week. A mobile home that was being repaired by one resident for use by his mother-in-law was ripped from its moorings, smashed into trees and torn open.

Neill Carnahan, who was one of those rescued, said, "I lost everything I owned on the inside" of his mobile home. He is now living in a small camper trailer parked in front of his home and doesn't intend to leave. "I like it down here," he said. "I'm going to live in this camper, and I'm going to clean everything out."

rkeller@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 126

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