TWO MAJOR PERRYVILLE BUSINESSES UNDER WATER

PERRYVILLE -- Streets in Perryville remain dry, but Mississippi River flooding has impacted this town.

A levee just a few miles east gave way last week, flooding thousands of acres. Two major employers, Sabreliner and Gilster-Mary Lee, are under water. A number of other businesses, located east of Perryville, also were forced to close, putting people out of work.

The bridge to Chester, Ill., is closed, meaning a long drive for those who work across the river.

Perryville Mayor Robert Miget said, "It's definitely having an impact. We've lost about 27,000 acres of prime farmland. Hundreds of people are out of work.

"The traffic from across the river has virtually stopped. They came here for shopping. It's definitely having an impact.

"It's kind of hard telling what we will find when the water goes down," Miget said.

Nearly everything is at a standstill in the flooded area near McBride, between Perryville and the river, said a spokesman with the Perry County Emergency Operations Center.

"The Corp is working on the levee from Perryville north preparing for the crest due here later this week," the spokesman said. "We've got a lot of people who have put in a lot of time out there."

After the crest passes, decisions will be made about cleanup and start up of those businesses located in the flooded area.

The impact to employees and businesses is evident now.

"As far as numbers, I haven't had a chance to count it up," said JoAnn Sumner, executive director of the Perry County Industrial Development Authority. "But two major employers have been affected.

"Of course there were some layoffs," Sumner said. "The companies and we are working as hard as we can to make sure these are temporary, very short-lived layoffs.

"We've been very actively trying to help those businesses line-up temporary locations."

Sumner said Sabreliner, for example, was already occupying several temporary facilities in Perryville, in an effort to get the manufacturing operation back on line.

"Everyone has been very active trying to keep businesses going," she said.

Sumner said Perry County authorities are putting together a shuttle operation to take Perry County residents to Chester. A similar shuttle is operating from Randolph County, Ill., but Sumner said the timing doesn't work for Perry County residents to take the return ride for work.