U.S. Rep. Smith: Levee system works against flooding

Levees along the Mississippi River have kept floodwaters largely at bay, U.S. Rep. Jason Smith said Friday.

Smith offered that assessment after meeting with officials from the Army Corps of Engineers St. Louis District and Cape Girardeau city and county.

Col. Anthony Mitchell, commander of the corps’ St. Louis district, said the flood fight soon will be over.

“We are on the back end,” he said.

Smith praised the Mississippi River levee system after the meeting, dismissing those who advocate for creating more wetlands. He said those “same people don’t want levees.”

Army Corps of Engineers’ levees protect people and property, according to Smith.

“It works,” he said.

As for floodplain development, Smith said he would not tell property owners how to use their land. But he said he personally would not build a structure in a floodplain.

Cape Girardeau city officials said at the meeting the 8,200-foot-long concrete floodwall has preserved downtown. Mayor Harry Rediger said the wall and past flood buyouts in flood-prone areas north and south of the floodwall have worked to lessen the effect of flooding.

“Those buyouts have paid big dividends,” Rediger told Smith.

“We have extra sandbags we probably are not going to use,” he said.

Cape Girardeau fire chief Rick Ennis said, “There is no emergency in Cape Girardeau and Cape Girardeau County.”

Assistant fire chief Mark Hasheider said the city has benefited from federal and state funding over the years that has paid for major improvements, including the channelization of Cape LaCroix Creek and Walker Branch and the building of a detention basin to hold back floodwaters.

But city and county officials told Smith they hope funding can be found to raise two sections of Highway 177 near the Mississippi River that regularly flood.

After the meeting at the Cape Girardeau Area Chamber of Commerce office, the congressman visited the floodwall at the foot of Broadway.

Stan Polivick, assistant director of public works, said the city has benefited from millions of dollars in improvements to the floodwall, including repairs of the joints and upgrades to the downtown pumping stations.

“It pays off today,” Polivick said.

On the river side of the floodwall, he said, “the water is just flying through here.”

Without the wall, floodwaters would have torn through downtown buildings, he said.

“Buildings couldn’t stand it,” Polivick said.

Many areas in Southeast Missouri were not so lucky.

At the meeting earlier at the chamber, Smith said many communities, particularly on the west side of the 8th Congressional District, were devastated by river and stream flooding.

West Plains, Missouri, received 14 1/2 inches of rain within a 36-hour period, causing widespread flooding, he said. Floodwaters also devastated Van Buren, Missouri.

Fifty-eight homes were lost in one small town of 68 people, Smith said.

“We definitely have a lot of folks dealing with a tough time,” he said.

mbliss@semissourian.com

(573) 388-3641

Pertinent address:

Broadway and Water Street, Cape Girardeau, Mo.