RESIDENTS CITE CONCERNS ABOUT 177 FLOODING

Residents along Highway 177 reviewed flooding of their main passageway to and from Cape Girardeau from several angles Tuesday night.

They discussed the emergency management issue and how floodwaters prevent ambulances and fire engines from quickly getting where they need to go.

They discussed the economic impact of flooding, and how additional money is spent driving to avoid the short stretches that go underwater.

And they discussed the danger of sending 2,349 cars diverted from 177 over roads designed for only a few hundred cars a day.

But no matter how they looked at the flooding issue, Highway Department District Manager Jim Murray had the same answer: no-one knows where the money to raise Highway 177 will come from.

Leta Bahn and others organized Tuesday night's meeting at Nell Holcomb School, and about 125 turned out to speak with state Sen. Peter Kinder, state Reps. Mary Kasten and David Schwab, Murray and other officials.

Congressman Bill Emerson sent Bahn a letter that was read at the meeting. He said public disaster funds from the Federal Emergency Management Agency can't be used to build up the road, only to restore flood-damaged roads to their previous conditions.

Highway 177 wasn't damaged, so the Missouri Highways and Transportation Department will have to look at federal highway or state maintenance funds for financing the work, Emerson said.

Murray said that Cape Girardeau County's road flooding problems weren't unique -- people all over the state have problems finding money to raise roads.

"The highway funds for at least the next three years have all been obligated," he said. "It is a challenge sometimes to get all the things done that need to be done."

While the lack of money is evident, Sheriff John Jordan said Highway 177 flooding was a nightmare from the emergency management standpoint. His officers must work 12-hour shifts around the clock so there will be someone in flooded areas at all times.

If an emergency medical situation arises, response time from ambulance crews may be delayed 25 minutes or longer.

"When it's like this, your only hope is to call LifeBeat or Air Evac," Jordan said. "If the weather is bad, you'd better just call on God, because that will be your only hope."

No one knows that more than Darrin Pruitt, who lost his father on Aug. 14, 1993, when floodwater covered Highway 177 and fog covered the whole area. When his father had a heart attack, helicopters couldn't land, and then an ambulance crew had a difficult time finding the Pruitt residence.

It took from 45 minutes to an hour before his father arrived at St. Francis Medical Center, Pruitt said.

Nell Holcomb Superintendent David Fuemmeler discussed other problems with having 177 closed, which included forcing Nell Holcomb buses to travel curvy, crowded back roads with busloads of children.

"I hate to turn this into an emotional issue, but it would be terrible for something to happen and have to say, `We should have done something before,'" Fuemmeler said.

It would cost about $1.5 million to raise three short stretches of the state highway, Murray said, but some residents in attendance expressed disbelief at the figure.

No answer was reached Tuesday, but organizer Bahn called the meeting a "strong first step" to resolution. She indicated more meetings would follow.