ONE YEAR LATER, VOLUNTEERS REMEMBERED

Brian Miller, emergency operations coordinator for Cape Girardeau County, refers to 1993 as the year of the volunteer.

"No one will ever know how much difference the people who donated their time, energy and resources to the flood have made," said Miller. "There is no government -- local, state or federal -- who has the ability or the resources on hand to face down a crisis like we had here last summer."

Dutchtown resident Clarence Carnell received an award from Gov. Mel Carnahan for his efforts in coordinating the hundreds of volunteers -- including National Guardsmen -- who filled sandbags to build a great wall around Dutchtown, holding back the encroaching waters of the Mississippi River.

Carnell, 67, said he pledged his time and abilities to the town he has called home for the past 30 years without expecting any reward or praise for his efforts.

That was typical of hundreds of people who came from all over the region to help with sandbagging and cooking and delivering meals to volunteers and victims of the flood. Where a need arose, there was ample supply of volunteers.

Church and civic groups traveled to this area from Tennessee, Alabama, Louisiana, Arkansas, Kansas and other states, offering what assistance they could, often sleeping on the floors of shelters or in their cars.

Mary Burton, director of the local American Red Cross chapter, called the efforts of volunteers during the flood "heartwarming and inspiring."

The flood affected the daily lives of residents and volunteers, but it also redefined the daily tasks of some area officials.

Bettie Knoll, a special officer with the Cape Girardeau Police Department, made daily rounds through areas designated as flood zones. At first, she delivered everything from dog food to bug spray to flood victims. Later, she dispensed information to victims, who didn't know where to turn for help.

Taking several months off from her job as a crime-victim advocate, Knoll became a flood-victim advocate. She still refers to the residents she helped as "her people."

Mark Hasheider, a battalion chief with the Cape Girardeau Fire Department and the city's emergency operations coordinator, all but abandoned his job to tackle the crises brought on by the flood.

Hasheider spent most of the summer in blue jeans, a fire department T-shirt and boots, coordinating on the street the efforts of city departments and relief agencies.

"It was definitely a long, drawn out process," said Hasheider. "But I think we've learned a lot from the experience. I believe this area is better equipped to handle a flood than ever before."