7/6/93
By: Bev Darr
Courier-Post Staff Writer

The National Guard was called in Friday to the 1,100 residents of LaGrange with their sandbagging efforts. In LaGrange, the main street is flooded, because it is only one block from the Mississippi River.

The Lewis County Sheriff's Department said the National Guard was called because the city had run out of sandbags. Also, it has only one policeman, and people were trying to stay in their homes. Three businesses remained open Friday, and the residents were trying to protect the Bunge Elevator. The Red Cross is going there Friday to help people relocate.

With the memory of a levee break in the flood of 1973 that sent waters serging through their buildings, the strip of businesses along U.S. 24 near the bridges at West Quincy was evacuated late Thursday afternoon. The owners explained the Corps of Engineers had recommended the evacuation.

The levee was intact Thursday, but at 6 p.m. Friday there was a report of a leak at the pump house, although the levee had not been broken. On Friday nearly 100 employees of the nearby Knapheide plant were filling and packing sandbags along the levee. They also used bulldozers to put a wall of sand over the entrance to Quincy Memorial Bridge, which had been closed.

Two-way traffic is continuing on the Bayview Bridge, but on Friday the Missouri Highway patrol announced tractor-trailer trucks are no longer being allowed to cross the bridge.

Although the businesses are closing, the Amtrak train station at West Quincy is still open and the trains are running on schedule.

The Knapheide plant, which makes truck bodies, is staying in operation, according to plant manager Bryce Butler. Owner Harold Knapheide was working at the levee Thursday, where his employees worked all day to reinforce the levee.

At the Red Barn Antique Mall, some of the 73 dealers were busy Thursday evening, carrying out their stock. Owner Les Collier said all but four of them had been contacted. These are on vacation, so he took their antiques to his home in LaGrange. "The crest prediction is 30.1 feet and the levee is only 30 feet, so it's time to go," he said. When the river recedes, he will reopen the next day.

The TNT Action Sport Center was totally evacuated, along with several gas stations and one restaurant.

At the Ayerco station Thursday, owner Bob Ayers said "this is the worst I've ever seen" as he directed removal of the gas pumps, as well as the equipment and stock. Ayers Oil Co. sales manager Jerry Prather said this is the second Ayers station closed by the flood and the pumps are being removed because they cost $10,000 each. A week ago the Ayerco station in Alexandria closed. Now there is 2.5 feet of water on the drive there, but the building is being protected by sandbags.

K & B Builders main building was destroyed in the 1973 flood, but it was planning to remain open for business this year if possible. Bookkeeper Dorothy Stewart was taking the books home in her car Thursday, and said some of the inventory had been removed.

Terri Turner, owner of the Mississippi Grill, was helping lift heavy equipment into a truck. "Hopefully the river won't wipe us out and we will be back in business Œwhenever," she said.

Area residents were also moving out of their homes Thursday. Juanita Eaton and her husband, John, did not live there in 1973, but she explained "Everyone that did live here in 1973 is packing up. They must know something."

The Kirby Fireworks stand next to the bridge was planning to stay open, according to owner Don Kirby. However, his fireworks stand at Alexandria is under two feet of water and the stock was removed by boat.

Farmers in the Alexandria area removed their livestock and machinery after a levee broke Tuesday and waters went over a levee Thursday, flooding some 8,000 acres about three miles south of Alexandria.

The Salvation Army from Hannibal took its mobile food canteen and served more than 100 people meals during the nine hours it was there Wednesday. It returned to Hannibal Thursday morning.

John Winkleman of Wayland, who farms a total of 600 acres and is levee board commissioner, worked with the Corps of Engineers to inform the people when the levees were endangered.

The farmers mainly grow crops, he said, but some have hogs, cows and a few sheep, he said. Their soybeans, corn, wheat and milo, will all be lost this year, he said. "By the time the river is down, it will be too late to replace them. They can possibly plant winter wheat."

However, he added, "When you farm the bottom land, you know and respect the river. You look for tomorrow. You don't look back."