NewsAugust 16, 2023
Glen Allen hit once again
GLEN ALLEN, Mo. -- First, the tornado. Now the flood. The village of Glen Allen is buckling at the knees. Against a backdrop of rooftop tarps and abandoned, tornado-damaged buildings, weary homeowners and renters dragged saturated waste into their yards Tuesday, Aug. 15...
GLEN ALLEN, Mo. -- First, the tornado.
Now the flood.
The village of Glen Allen is buckling at the knees.
Against a backdrop of rooftop tarps and abandoned, tornado-damaged buildings, weary homeowners and renters dragged saturated waste into their yards Tuesday, Aug. 15.
Volunteers wearing bright yellow shirts were again called to the rural town experiencing its second natural disaster in four months. Generators hummed and chain saws whirred as people sloshed through muddy yards and driveways, quietly going about cleanup efforts.
Some don't know whether they'll build back or give up and move elsewhere. Much of that will depend on whether an "earthen structure" that gave way is repaired. The breach allowed a wall of water to descend on the community during the height of storms that dropped 8 inches of rain in just a few hours.
Flood victims described terrifying moments around 3:30 a.m. Monday, Aug. 14, when, startled by strange noises of things crashing outside, they found water seeping into their houses. Some described 3 feet or more of water filling their homes as they tried to protect themselves, children and pets.
Emergency crews carried out evacuations in the middle of the night. Some rode out the rising water until daylight came and the water receded.
Most if not all the Glen Allen residences on the low side of Little Crooked Creek were in the path of the flash flood. Victims who spoke to the Southeast Missourian suspect the failed private "levee" near the confluence of Giblet Creek and Little Crooked Creek led to the destruction, though officials have not yet confirmed that.
Some described a clogged box culvert on the opposite side of Highway 34 as perhaps contributing to the flood. Carla Watt, listed as floodplain administrator on the Missouri State Emergency Management Agency's website, said she was still trying to get information on the levee and what flood victims should expect.
The muddy status of the so-called levee may require court intervention. Victims are still vulnerable and can't rebuild until they know the fate of the creek bank.
Bollinger County emergency management coordinator Kevin S. Cooper called the creek embankment that gave way an "earthen structure" on private property. He said because it's on private property, and because there is no paperwork on the original construction of the structure, the breached section does not fall under the authority of the state or federal emergency management administration or the Army Corps of Engineers. He said he's heard several different accounts of when the earthen structure was built and by whom. Because the word levee is specifically defined by law, he declined to use the word when describing the situation in Glen Allen.
He said Tuesday he doesn't know who owns the property where the breach occurred, because "no one owns creeks" and there are multiple property owners along the creek where the breach occurred. It is not known when or whether the protective structure has been inspected since it failed and was rebuilt 40-plus years ago.
Glen Allen neighbors speaking with the Southeast Missourian said they did not know who owns the property, but said it was near the same location where five people were killed in the tornado April 4. Some have speculated the tornado might have damaged or weakened the levee when it blew over trees. Residents and officials have expressed disgust that the Federal Emergency Management Agency provided no assistance to the tornado victims in rebuilding efforts. FEMA funding availability rules establish cumulative loss thresholds that were not met in the tornado's aftermath.
Cooper said he is optimistic, though not certain, the Glen Allen area, as well as other Bollinger County locations that experienced flood damage, will qualify for public assistance for flooding, meaning funds may be available to repair or rebuild public infrastructure. As for individual assistance, he said SEMA and FEMA will do evaluations in the coming days and weeks. It's believed that because several other counties have experienced flooding damage, individual assistance is more likely to be available for this disaster, unlike the April tornado, which was much more narrow in its destructive path. But there is much more work to be done before it's known whether individual assistance will be made available by the federal government.
Locals described Monday's flood as surpassing the flood in 1982, when the same earthen structure gave way.
Christine Golden and her adult son, along with the help of volunteers, were busy dragging flood-soaked materials from her home Tuesday. Golden, who has lived in her home for about 20 years, said when her home was built, the ground was raised to reach beyond the floodplain. About 5 inches of water soaked her home after Monday's flood.
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"This was worse than the tornado was," she said, when describing the damage to her home. She will have to remove drywall, insulation and flooring and replace furniture, as will her neighbors. She had just replaced a backyard fence and air conditioning unit that were damaged in the April tornado. Both her fence and the AC unit were destroyed again by the flood.
She said a major flood in 2002 resulted in a couple of inches of water in her garage. She's never seen anything like this.
To the back of Golden's property, she pointed to the breach's location. To the left and right of the breach were big piles of tornado debris -- a tangled mass of trees and branches that had been uprooted or cut down. That tornado debris washed down toward Golden's property, doing additional damage to her home. She, along with most of her neighbors, are faced with cleaning up tornado debris a second time, plus all the water damage inside their homes.
"Am I upset?" Golden said, rhetorically. "Yes. When I moved here, I was told I didn't need flood insurance. I also sit on the board of the Village of Glen Allen. We've been having meetings after the tornado and we received a notice that we do live in a floodplain. But no map or anything has been decided yet that we do. But I did contact my insurance agent yesterday, and we do not have flood insurance. So it's all on me unless FEMA comes to help us."
Golden's neighbor, Edith Foster, 86, has lived in her home for more than 50 years. Her son, Leonard Foster, helped remove his mother from the rising floodwaters early Monday morning.
"It's a total loss," he said when approached by a reporter. "We're moving. The community is hoping that this can be added in with the tornado damage and be declared a federal disaster area and there's some talk that maybe there can be a buyout. That might be wishful thinking. You know, it's pennies on the dollar. But you can't live out here like this."
He said in 1982, the water reached the baseboards of the house, but this time, 11 inches of water flooded the home. That's in addition to vehicles and tractors that were damaged. He pointed out the inside of his car, which still had several inches of standing water in the floorboards. He said it took less than 10 minutes for the water to rise from a few inches to 3 feet.
"My heart sank," he said, as he explained the dramatic moments while walking through the mud behind his mother's house, showing the damage and flood path. When he saw how fast the water was rising Monday morning, "I knew the levee had breached somewhere upstream."
He said the cost to dry out a house can cost up to $40,000.
Considering the cost of repairs, the complications of repairing or rebuilding a levee and the lack of support from FEMA, Foster believes this second disaster might bring an end to Glen Allen.
"It's a small community, and I'm afraid this could be the death knell of it."
Across Route ZZ, downstream of the flood, Brian Tedder and his girlfriend have rented a house from her grandfather for five months, just enough time to experience both the tornado and the flood. He lost his second vehicle in five months.
He said the water was waist-deep in his house, and he didn't know how high it was going to rise. He said the electricity remained on until the water receded. He said the lights illuminated the water, but "I was worried about the electricity and the water."
"We lost two vehicles, and now with the flood we've lost pretty well everything," Tedder said. "We're taking it one day at a time and trying to find out what to do with ourselves."
Nearby, Jessica Barton, who has lived in her home for two years, described how, as the water climbed in her house, she placed her child on top of a cooler on top of the stove.
"We prayed and praised God," she said, adding that in the past four months the community, "has been through hell and back. But we'll get together as a community and rise above it. It happened in '82. I don't know what the future holds, but I hope if it happens again we'll be more prepared."
Bollinger County Sheriff Casey Graham was out of town in training when the flood struck. He said his department has kept him in the loop with updates as he's been away. He said he's proud of his department, as well as other responding departments that helped evacuate people in Glen Allen and at the Castor River Campground the morning of the flood.
"It's heartbreaking to see your community that you've sworn to serve and protect to see so much adversity in so short of a period of time," he said. The sheriff added that extra patrols will be cruising through areas affected by the flood to prevent looting. "These people are going through the worst time of their lives. There will be zero tolerance" for looters, he said.
Stations were set up Tuesday at First Baptist Church of Marble Hill, where the Missouri Baptist Disaster Relief organization set up mobile units so flood victims could shower or do laundry. Pastor Andrew Green said Tuesday morning a lot of victims were making use of the laundry services. He added his church was going to deliver lunches to 75 victims and volunteers. He said the community is hurting and in need. He said he personally loaned his vehicle to a friend who lost his vehicle in the flood and needed a way to get to a health appointment. He said part of the relief team includes "assessors" who will clean up floors and walls, and spray for mold.
He said the church will host the disaster relief teams for at least a couple of more days.
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