Illinois commuters in waders walk through flood to get to work in Cape

They come every morning by boat, by oversize trucks and by foot through water almost up to their knees. In the evening they go home the same way.

They are residents of East Cape Girardeau, Illinois, doing their best to cope with rising floodwaters that surround their homes as they commute to their jobs in Missouri.

With the exception of large trucks, military vehicles from the Illinois National Guard and a few others, Illinois Route 146 between the town and the Bill Emerson Memorial Bridge has been closed to all traffic for more than a week. Water over the pavement is more than a foot deep in some places.

East of the town, water over Route 146 is even deeper, making it impassible for all but troop transports and heavy-duty vehicles from the Illinois Department of Transportation. Illinois Route 3 between McClure and Gale also remains closed, submerged under knee-deep water.

The Mississippi River gauge at Cape Girardeau was just over 39 feet at around 7 p.m. Tuesday, down about a half a foot since Monday night. The National Weather Service in Paducah, Kentucky, expects the river to drop about 6 inches a day over the next two weeks before finally falling below the 32-foot flood stage in about two weeks.

Seep water, a byproduct from the flooded river, continues to soak under and through the levee system and although the river level is dropping, floodwaters in Alexander County are still rising.

And according to IDOT and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the situation won’t improve until the river drops a few more feet and some of the floodgates along the levee can be opened, allowing gravity to draw trapped water back into the river.

“I’ve lived here 24 years now, and I’ve never seen it like this. Never,” said East Cape Girardeau resident Shaun Merritt. It was shortly after 7 a.m. Tuesday when Merritt, who works at Slumberland in Cape Girardeau, stepped out of his jon boat and headed toward his car.

His was one of about 40 vehicles parked on a dry section of Route 146 leading up to the Emerson Bridge, all left there by East Cape Girardeau residents when the highway closed.

“I’ve seen the water get up before, but I’ve never seen it like this,” Merritt said.

As he spoke, others could be seen in the distance walking from East Cape toward the bridge. Among them were Cindy Laymon and her 23-year-old son, Jesse.

The Laymons are both employed in Cape Girardeau and have been walking through the floodwaters between their home and their vehicle at least a couple of times a day for the past week and a half. She works at Petco while her son is employed by Deal Finder on South Kingshighway. Both have begun wearing water shoes for their hikes along the flooded pavement.

“We’ve been walking ever since the water came up to where we couldn’t use our truck,” Cindy Laymon said. “So we’ve been leaving the truck on the bridge side of the floodwater and walking to it.”

The Laymons live a few blocks south of Route 146, which they say has remained dry thanks in large part to sandbagging efforts of the Illinois National Guard.

“Those guys are being awesome about sandbagging out there,” Cindy Laymon said as she pointed to their neighborhood in the distance beyond the flooded highway. “The water would probably be on our street if they hadn’t sandbagged.”

For East Cape Girardeau resident Chris Livingston, his recent purchase of a pair of hip waders was a wise investment.

“I got the waders when they were about to close the bridge, but I only had to start wearing them in the past four or five days when the water got too high,” he said as he walked from the flooded highway to his car.

Livingston has lived in East Cape Girardeau for about 15 years. He works at Cheekwood Studios in Cape Girardeau and said he would move to the Missouri side of the river were it not for his family connections in East Cape.

“I pretty much have stayed for my mother-in-law, who lives down the street, because she doesn’t have anyone else helping her right now,” he said.

“I’m originally from Cape and will probably move back. I’ve had enough. Enough flooding. This is crazy, especially when you see stuff like that,” he said and pointed to a pickup truck almost completely submerged in a flooded ditch along the pavement. “That guy (the driver) was just a moron.”

Unlike the Laymons, Livingston said his home appears to have suffered some significant flood damage.

“I’ve got it (water) in my basement,” he reported. “My house has shifted, I have a ridge in the floor of my basement and my sump pump is kicking on every minute. It was more often, but I got a bigger pump. I also have cracks in my ceiling and a door jam that binds.”

Livingston estimated as many as half of East Cape Girardeau’s 400 residents have evacuated.

“A couple of people who live across from me, older guys, their wives left, but they stayed because you’ve got to keep the pump going if you have a pump,” he said. “When all you have is your house, you dig in deep.”

Livingston is trying to stay positive about the situation despite the flood damage and inconvenience. He said when he walks back to his home through along the flooded highway, “it’s the prettiest sunset you could see ... if you’re on a lake.”