SOME STAYING, OTHERS LEAVING MCBRIDE

McBRIDE -- When the Bois Brule levee broke the early morning of Sunday, July 25, life changed forever for the people who called the valley behind the wall of earth home.

The tiny community of McBride, situated about six miles north of Perryville, laid beneath as much as 25 feet of water for several days afterward. Some farm buildings were swept away by floodwaters of the Mississippi.

A Meramec Caverns sign painted on the roof of a barn bordering Highway 51 was nearly torn in two when the building was razed by the floodwaters.

Corps of Engineers officials told residents to consider themselves lucky that the levee was breached on its south end, forcing water to flow backward into the valley. Had the levee given way at the north end many residents would not have had time to get out with their lives, let alone precious few valuables.

More than six months later, homes and businesses in the valley are beginning to show signs of revitalization; a new beginning. But others have succumbed to the damage wrought by the floodwaters, leaving their homes forever.

A temporary levee bridging the gap torn in the Bois Brule levee has been completed. Work on the permanent levee begins at the end of this month.

Two of the businesses hit hardest by the flooding are in the process of rebuilding.

One of those, the Sabreliner Corp., which builds airplane turbine parts in facilities on the airport property outside McBride, was heavily damaged.

"Sabreliner is presently back in operation in part of the facilities," said Barry Dunnengan, a public relations representative for the company. "They have been able to open one of the hangars and are working on planes. Several other hangars are being repaired."

Company officials had ordered the removal of computerized equipment from the facility's test tunnel prior to the levee break. Dunnegan said the test tunnel was cleaned and repaired, and the high-tech equipment reinstalled in January.

Sabreliner relocated all of its workers at the McBride facility after the flooding, Dunnegan said.

"People weren't necessarily able to work in the temporary Perryville facility, but we did find work for them at our other plants," he said. "Once the repairs are completed and the facility is up to 100 percent, all the original workers will be returned to the McBride plant."

The company transferred the workload at McBride to other places. "They moved some of the projects to the city of Perryville, some to the Cape Girardeau airport, and some to facilities in St. Louis," said Dunnegan. "But after several months of hard work, slowly but surely, work is getting back to normal in McBride."

At the westernmost edge of the Bois Brule valley, the Gilster-Mary Lee plant was heavily damaged by the flooding -- twice.

In July, when the levee first broke, employees worked frantically to move much of the inventory and machinery out of the building. But the fight turned into a losing battle against a river rising at a maddening rate.

After the floodwaters receded, workers began the cleanup: salvaging what they could, replacing what they couldn't.

But then the river rose again in September, entering through the gaping hole in the Bois Brule levee, and flooding the plant a second time.

"It could have been a lot worse, I suppose," said Warren Buescher, a spokesman for the company. "No one cares to go through this kind of thing again.

"We all have our fingers crossed that the spring doesn't bring anything like what we've been through back again," he said.

The sheet plant, on the east side of Highway 51, will be at 100 percent operation within the week, Buescher said. The distribution center -- from which products of Gilster-Mary Lee are shipped to the 48 continental states, Canada and Mexico -- has been on line since Oct. 14. The production center -- where microwave popcorn and dry cereals are packaged -- is still under repair.

"So much had to be repaired and redone at the production center that it was almost like starting over," said Buescher. "It was like building a new facility, except the walls and the roof were already there."

Buescher said during the time the company was closed down, employees were assigned to other plants or were involved in reclamation activities at the McBride facility.

"Virtually no one had to be let go," said Buescher. "As long as people were willing to stay with us, we found them something to do."

The production facility is expected to be at 100 percent operation by spring.

Although things are beginning to look up for businesses affected by the flooding, many residents are unable to express the same sentiments.

Homes along Highway 51 reflect the floods damage to the farming community. Large pieces of aluminum from grain silos lay in the middle of farmers' fields along with about 6 inches of river silt and other flood debris.

"If the river doesn't get too high this year, I plan on planting my crops," said David Hotop, a farmer who lost his crops to the flood. "It's going to take some work getting the land ready for planting, though."

Some people are trying to clean and repair their homes; others have given up.

Carl Klaus, presiding commissioner of Perry County, said the Perry County Commission submitted a voluntary buyout proposal to the governor's office last week.

"We sent letters to those people we knew had been affected by the flood and asked for their input on a buyout proposal," said Klaus. "Then we all got together in a couple of public meetings and drew up a plan."

In their proposal to the governor's office, Perry County had to come up with alternate uses for the tracts of land that would be vacated by residents. No structures can be built on property bought by the federal government.

"One of our ideas was to have test farm plots for governmental use," said Klaus. "We also have to come up with the money to clear the land of all existing structures," said Klaus. "There's a lot more damage out there than there is money."

The governor will review the packages submitted from flood-damaged cities, and will decide which to send on to Federal Emergency Management Agency officials.

"There's no guarantee any of the people will get any money for their homes and land," Klaus said. "But we're giving it our best shot.

"I can tell you one thing for sure: There are people who are going to live again in the bottoms," he said. "These people are down, but they're not out."