OFFICIALS PREPARE FOR WORST

City officials are hoping their flood preparations this week are a case of "better safe than sorry."

In a scene reminiscent of meetings at the height of last year's record flood, city department heads and emergency personnel met Tuesday afternoon at city hall to discuss preparations for a predicted flood crest by this weekend of 44 feet in Cape Girardeau.

The river here has crested above 40 feet only a handful of times in the past 30 years, and officials are hopeful the predicted crest is not a harbinger of another summer of historic flooding.

Brian Miller, emergency operations coordinator for Cape Girardeau County, told city officials he and other county officials are adopting a wary view.

"We're watching and waiting," Miller said. "(Presiding Commissioner Gene) Huckstep is not altogether convinced of the credibility of the report," he added, referring to the National Weather Service's prediction that the river stage here will crest on Saturday at 44 feet, 12 feet above flood stage. "We're pretty much just getting ready, but not jumping into anything."

Miller said the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers hasn't confirmed the 44-foot crest, but has indicated the river stage will top 40 feet here.

"Anytime the river goes over 40 feet we're concerned," he said. "The biggest issue we have right now is that the Ohio River is very high."

During the peak of last summer's flood, the Ohio River remained below flood stage, allowing water in the Mississippi to disperse south of Cape Girardeau.

But this year, the Ohio in Cairo, Ill., has been above flood stage for weeks.

"With the Ohio flooding, the water coming down the Mississippi in Cape Girardeau won't flow away as quickly," said Cape Girardeau City Manager J. Ronald Fischer. "That, along with the greater potential during the spring of flash flooding, is our biggest concern right now."

Tuesday's meeting was an opportunity for various city officials to prepare for the worst. Meetings also will be held today and Thursday to update preparations.

Assistant City Manager Doug Leslie reported he has secured two standby water pumps should the river stage exceed 43.9 feet -- the level at which the intake pumps at the city's number one water plant pull from the Mississippi.

At the city's wastewater treatment plant, a sandbag and earthen levee built last summer is being bolstered in preparation for the high water. Union Electric also is securing the levee built around its substation on Old Highway 61 in south Cape.

The city also is preparing to make sand available to residents who need to protect their property.

"We're going to start hauling sand (today) to Red Star and the corner of Main and Merriwether," said Mary Ellen Klein, the city's environmental services coordinator. "At public works, we've got probably 3,000 or more empty sandbags and about 750 bags already filled."

Sgt. Carl Kinnison of the police department said sand will be available at the east parking lot of Red Star Baptist Church, north of the church's activity center. Also, the Corps of Engineers will have empty sandbags available.

Police Chief Howard "Butch" Boyd Jr. and Fire Chief Robert Ridgeway said that today they would begin notifying residents in affected areas of the predicted crest.

"In the part of Red Star that would be affected by a 44-foot crest, there aren't a lot of people moved back in," said Boyd. "But a lot of those houses on South Sprigg have been moved back into."

Ridgeway said Fire Station No. 3 would work with the police department to go door to door to inform residents.

"Generally, when you get down there, you tell the neighborhood what the flood stage is, and they'll tell you where the water's going to go," said police Capt. Steve Strong. "The one's who have lived there a while know where that floodwater will go."