IN SOME VERY BAD TIMES, THE GOOD SHINES THROUGH

The flood of 1993 will be remembered in Southeast Missouri and Southern Illinois as one of the largest natural disasters to hit the region in years. Hundreds of homes and thousands of acres of farmland in our immediate area have been touched by this moving sea. As a side note to this enormous event, however, it should also be remembered that the worst of times can bring out the best in people. We applaud the work of those volunteers who have reached out to help their fellow citizens in this very trying time.

A flood is like few other natural disasters; it comes slowly and stays long. It announces itself early but people in its path are, beyond a certain point, helpless to divert its arrival or restrict its impact. Anyone who has attempted amateur plumbing knows that water is hard to harness. This is no plumbing job ... this is the Mississippi, and the river does what it wants to do in a mighty way.

Nature employs its own mysteries, and humans can only control what is within their relatively limited grasp. What people have done with this opportunity, however, is step forward to help those who are caught in the flood's indiscriminate channel. In the midst of considerable heartbreak, there is an uplifting aspect to this cruel and unusual season.

Stories abound about those rushing to the aid of others. Ranging from housewives to retired persons to business executives, people grabbed shovels and headed to the outposts where sandbags were filled. Those with boats helped transport people and property from homes surrounded by water. Friends and relatives are housing families displaced by the flood. Businesses have released workers so that they can pitch in to the effort. Other corporate entities have donated goods from drinking water to paper products to help the flood victims until they can return to their homes.

Governments have a role to play in getting relief to flood victims, and we believe that aid is being administered. Organizations such as the Salvation Army and the American Red Cross prepare for such calamities, and their assistance to persons on both sides of the river in recent days has been phenomenal. But it is the sheer altruism of volunteers neighbors helping neighbors that is most impressive in what has gone on here and along the river.

Cape Girardeau is, quite proudly, a river city, and bad occasionally accompanies the good part of that claim. And however harsh the river sometimes treats those within its reach, the nature of people here is to help out in whatever ways are available. It is impossible not to be moved by this show of community in such a demanding period.