SPECIAL OFFICER ASSURES RESIDENTS

Bettie Knoll made the rounds through flood-damaged areas of Cape Girardeau Tuesday, handing out everything from a "hello" to flood cleanup information.

A special officer with the Cape Girardeau Police Department, Knoll has become a familiar sight to flood-weary residents.

She has been making the rounds in a patrol car for the past month.

Early on, she delivered needed supplies to beleaguered residents, everything from dog food to bug spray. "At that time, they weren't really all hooked up to the different agencies like the Red Cross," said Knoll.

But more recently her role has been one of dispensing information, alerting people to where they can turn for help.

She also listens to their problems, lending a hand where possible.

On the city's south side, Knoll stopped to greet residents in two homes that had withstood the flooding.

Water had come up in the basement of one man's home and ruined his furnace. He was having trouble getting in contact with the Federal Emergency Management Agency for help.

Knoll had previously given him a telephone number to call for assistance. Tuesday, she encouraged him to call again.

Reassuring people is just part of the task, she said. "It means a lot to them to know someone cares."

Dressed in blue jeans, tennis shoes and a Cape Girardeau Police Department T-shirt, and sporting her "good-neighbor charm," Knoll visited about 20 homes and businesses Tuesday in the northern and southern sections of the city handing out small bags filled with information on flood cleanup.

"I've gone from the flood lady to the bag lady," she quipped.

Since Friday, Knoll has distributed about 100 of the information packets.

At many of the homes there was no answer; in those cases Knoll left the information packets at the front door.

The packets include a Red Cross form asking flood victims to explain the extent of the damage to their homes and what cleanup assistance they may need from volunteers.

The forms are to be returned to the Red Cross disaster office at 1219 N. Kingshighway.

In the Red Star neighborhood, where floodwaters are receding, Knoll stopped to visit with Scott Fuller at his home at 1225 N. Main.

Although the water had gone down, sandbags remained stacked around his house.

Shirtless and sporting a massive tattoo on one arm, Fuller said his basement had been full of water and floodwaters came within 6 inches of getting into the house despite the use of pumps.

"It was getting kind of scary for a while. I thought it was going to get us," he said.

At 1406 N. Water, Knoll stopped to talk with Virgie and Woody Sadler, who were already hard at work cleaning up from the flood.

In the course of her rounds, Knoll has gotten to know many of the residents. "That was one of the things that made me feel real good," she said. "They always had a wave; they always had a smile.

"I mean, these were desperate people," she said. But even at the height of the flood battle, many of the residents found time to chat with Knoll.

"I used to get out and talk to every one of them. I made a lot of friends."

Knoll said she was amazed at how both neighbors and strangers pitched in to help in the flood battle.

Knoll herself has been taking time out from her regular job of working with crime victims to assist flood victims. "This is all volunteer work I am doing."

On weekdays she generally makes three trips daily through the flood-ravaged areas of the city. For the past month, she has devoted hours each weekend to similar missions.

On South Sprigg Street Tuesday, she stopped to visit with Gene Dalton, who was forced from his home by the flooding. Dalton has been camping out with his pets, including a menagerie of cats and chickens.

Dalton greeted Knoll and the two chatted with an easy familiarity. Dalton's campsite has been a regular stop on Knoll's rounds.

At 1230 Meadowbrook Drive, Knoll talked across a sandbag levee with homeowners Willard and Martha Lemonds.

The levee held Diversion Channel floodwaters at bay. The water has now receded in their neighborhood, leaving yards mired in mud.

"I'm fortunate it didn't get in the house," said Willard Lemonds. "We got 3,000 (sand) bags and we used pretty well every one of them."

For many residents, waiting out the flood proved hardest, said Knoll.

She talked of meeting people who literally went to bed with life jackets on because of concern that rising floodwaters might swamp their home while they were sleeping.

"They lived their lives 24 hours a day waiting to see what would happen," she said.

While the flooding stopped short of some homes, the worry hit everyone, she said.

Even though the floodwaters are receding, some homes still remain accessible only by boat.

More and more, the focus of both flood victims and relief agencies is on cleanup.

And for Knoll, the daily rounds continue. Like always, she promises to return again and again.