MILLER CITY: RESIDENTS LOOK TOWARD A SUMMER OF UNCERTAINTY

MILLER CITY, Ill. -- Jim Melton's father opened a fishing and camping area 25 years ago on the south shore of Horseshoe Lake. Eleven years later, Jim took over the family business.

"I was working at the Chrysler plant in St. Louis," said Melton. "I decided it was time to work for myself, instead of some big business."

Until the summer of 1993, the only thing Melton had to worry about was whether the fish were biting. But when the Mississippi River breached the Fayville levee in July at record levels, Melton had to worry about fish inside his business.

"We had 30 inches of water inside the store last year," said Melton. "There was no warning. We lost everything."

When the floodwaters rose again in November, Melton was faced with water in his bait and tackle shop and debris washed into his tiny harbor.

This year, Melton wasn't taking any chances. He decided not to restore some of his rental trailers that were damaged by floodwaters, and he did not lay indoor-outdoor carpeting in the tackle shop.

"I just decided that I wasn't going to mess with it," he said. "I was going to wait and see what this new levee (the Len Small repair levee) would do."

At about 10 p.m. on April 13, the Len Small repair levee gave way to the rising Mississippi River.

For many area residents, it was a replay of what happened almost nine months before. Others hoped against hope, trying to save some area buildings, including the Lake Milligan Baptist Church.

Although the church was again claimed by the river, some residents won the fight, this time.

Melton said that when word shot through Miller City that the Len Small repair levee had been breached, he wasn't surprised.

"We just moved our stock and equipment out of the shop, stood back and watched the water rise," he said.

"This time the water left a lot of junk laying around," Melton said, looking around at the driftwood, bottles, cans, and other remnants swept away by the floodwaters. "That, and this is one of my busiest times of the year."

Melton said that over half of his income is earned in April, May and the first two weeks of June.

"I'm just hoping the water will go down by Friday," he said. "Otherwise, I'll have to call the people who have booked trailers for the weekend and cancel. I can't afford to do that much longer."

But even after the Mississippi River returns to its banks, Melton said he will not be able to rest easy.

"With the levee gone, it won't take much to flood (Horseshoe Lake) now," he said. "With the levee, we were OK if the river reached 45-46 feet at Cape Girardeau. Without the levee, we'll be wading around here if the river gets much over 36 feet. It gets that high a lot."

Up until Tuesday, Melton was getting to and from his business by boat. By late Monday, a field next to the flooded access road dried out enough to allow area residents with trucks to circumvent the roadway.

That was good news for Bessie Lang, who leases a trailer near Melton's bait and tackle shop.

"I don't like boats," said Lang, who has lived in the Miller City area a little more than a year. "All last year when the flood was going on, I stayed home. I just sent other people out to get things for me."

When the floodwaters rose for a third time since the first levee break in July 1993, Lang was ready to call it quits.

"We're moving," she said. "I really like this area and the people, but there's just too much water.

"We lost our clothes and furniture to the floods when we were trying to move last year from one trailer to another right here, but we managed to save our pictures and personal things," Lang said. "With this last levee break we've decided to move to a trailer in Olive Branch -- up on solid, dry ground."

When the emergency levee broke last week, Lang said her chief concern was her children's ability to get to school.

"Last year they hauled them to the buses in boats," she said. "This year, since the water is a little lower, they are taking them to a bus stop in 4-wheel drive trucks.

"Floods can really wear on you," she said. "When they came through town last week and told us the levee broke, it all came back. We just don't want this anymore."

On the other side of the lake, Gene Hart was doing something he didn't have the opportunity to do last summer: he was fertilizing his garden.

"The river came right across the field and took out my garden, a dogwood tree and a couple of fruit trees," he said. "It killed all the grass, too."

Hart, his wife, friends and relatives hurriedly sandbagged the house last year, saving it from the river.

"It got right up there," he said. "We would stay up at night to make sure the water didn't get in. Somehow, it didn't."

Some of his neighbors weren't so fortunate. The house immediately to the west of his property was partially submerged in floodwaters. The roadway, which lays below both homes, was covered with water, forcing Hart and other residents to boat out to their vehicles parked on dry land.

This year, the water stopped at the edge of his neighbor's lawn, much to the relief of both.

"I was pretty uneasy when the levee broke last week," said Hart. "For a little while, no one could tell us how high the water was going to get. We didn't know if we should sandbag the house again or not.

"We took our chances and it worked out pretty well," he said. "I'm just hoping we have a good crop from the garden this summer."