Water begins retreat in flooding battle

DUTCHTOWN, Mo. -- In the early morning hours Sunday, after nearly two weeks on the rise, the Mississippi River finally began to recede.

By mid-afternoon, sandbags that once stood as barriers against flood waters started to dry, streets that were once covered with water began to re-emerge and the boundaries of the newly formed lake at Dutchtown started to shrink.

The river crested overnight at 45.7 feet -- 13.7 feet above flood stage and only 2.8 feet shy of the record level of 48.5 feet recorded on Aug. 8, 1993.

Gary Moody, an Army Corps of Engineers deputy area commander, said it's only a matter of days until the temporary levees on highways 25 and 74 are removed.

"The first thing we'll do is turn traffic loose on 25," Moody said. "We're likely, at the same time, to open the intersection of Route A to the west. Then we're looking at three or four days later before 74 would be open."

Moody said crews could start clearing the intersection at Highway 25 and Route A on Wednesday and on Highway 74 by the weekend.

It will take Missouri Department of Transportation and Cape County crews about three or four hours to clean the intersection of Highway 25 and Route A, but between 24 and 48 hours to clean Highway 74, he said.

He said the sandbags and gravel removed by the crews won't go to waste.

"In '95 all of it went on the road going to Allenville to help build it up," he said. "The county will use it in other areas to help in the flooding situation."

Local and state law enforcement officials said traffic on Interstate 55 near the Diversion Channel was not a problem Sunday because there are usually fewer motorists on the highways on Sundays than the rest of the week.

Up against sandbags

The receding waters couldn't have come at a better time for Christi and Earl Ray Stevens, who own a rental home in Dutchtown.

"We have 7,700 sandbags around our house and the neighbor's house," Christi Stevens said. "We knew we were covered up to 46 feet, but the water was right up against the sandbags yesterday."

Stevens said her husband got a call that water coming into the house at about 4 a.m.

When he got to the house, there were 2 to 3 inches of standing water in the basement.

"It took about four hours to get caught up," Stevens said. "But it's down for good now -- we hope."

By 2 p.m. the water that was once up against the sandbags in the backyard had receded as much as 5 or 6 feet in some areas.

Stevens' father-in-law, Earl W. Stevens, kept an eye on the water Sunday.

"It fell about a foot-and-a-half last night," he said. "We aren't in much danger now. We're just going to have snakes and mosquitoes all summer."

The Army Corps of Engineers forecast is calling for the river to fall to about 42.2 feet by Wednesday.

But that's still not enough for the floodgates in downtown Cape Girardeau to be reopened.

Andy Juden, with the Main Street Levee District, said the water has to fall below 39 feet to open the gate at Broadway and below 35.5 feet to open the gate at Themis.

"It's conceivable the gates will be opened this week, but I doubt it," Juden said. "It all depends on the river up north."

hkronmueller@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 128