FLOOD CONTROL PROJECT GETS BIG TEST, MIXED REVIEWS

Dimple Bridges remembers the flood of 1986.

That year, in the year before the city's $40 million west-end flood-control project, 2 1/2 feet of floodwater found its way into the Garber's Men's Wear store in Town Plaza that Bridges owns with her husband.

"It destroyed three-fourths of everything we had," Bridges said. "We almost lost our business."

In fact, that flood did $56 million of flood damage on Cape Girardeau's west side.

On Thursday, Bridges watched as more than 5 inches of rain pelted the Town Plaza and filled to capacity the 10-feet-deep Walker Branch basin that runs along Kingshighway.

But this time, when the rains stopped, her business was dry.

That's in large part due to the widening and paving of Walker Branch and Cape LaCroix creeks, she said. The flood-control project is now complete nearly 10 years after construction began, with the exception of a 157-acre detention basin just north of Boutin Drive.

"It has obviously proved itself," Bridges said. "The water would be in our store again if we didn't have this."

Randy Barnhouse, who lives at 1132 Landgraf along a different part of Walker Branch, agreed that the storm-water improvements paid off on Thursday.

"In years past, if we had the kind of rain today, the water would have come all the way back up to the house," said Barnhouse. "I'm just glad they did this work."

Still not finished

But some did grumble that the project should have been done years ago and even now is not completely finished.

"They were supposed to get that detention basin done a long time ago," Cape Girardeau resident John Meyer said.

Meyer lives on Hopper Road not too far from Cape LaCroix Creek. Water filled his yard, leaving muddy sidewalks behind for him to hose off Thursday afternoon.

"I wouldn't have gotten any water if the retention basin were finished," he said. "I would never have bought this house nine years ago if I would have thought the work would not have been done by now."

William Vaughn, development services coordinator for Cape Giradeau's Division of Planning Services, said the retention basin was scheduled to be done first, but attaining right of way caused a delay. It is expected to be complete by next summer.

He also said there was flooding all over town and that the flood-control project was only intended to prevent flooding along Cape LaCroix Creek and Walker Branch.

"That's a comparatively small part of the city," Vaughn said. "It probably covers 7 percent."

Too much at once?

Cape Girardeau assistant public works director Tim Gramling acknowledged that the amount of rain Thursday was probably greater than the project was designed to handle. It could have been designed to handle more rain, he said, but the project would not have been cost efficient then.

"That's a whole lot of extra expense for something that doesn't happen very often," he said.

While rains flooded several streets in Cape Girardeau, Mayor Al Spradling III said he doesn't think it reflects poorly on the flood-control project. He agreed that the problem likely wouldn't have gotten as bad if the detention basin had been finished.

"If the detention basin had been finished, I think it would have eliminated some of that water we saw," Spradling said.

Spradling pointed out that when it rains that much that fast, there's always going to be some flooding.

"With the volume of water coming down, with Capaha Park's lagoon tripled in size, you can't possibly handle it all," Spradling said. "We handled a tremendous amount of surface water. But with the volume we had, it's impossible to handle all of it."

Dimple Bridges said she's just seen enough rain for a while.

"This rain has been crazy," Bridges said. "Somebody's been praying too long for rain -- they can stop doing that any time."