7/15/93
By: Jim Salter
Courier-Post Assistant Managing Editor

ELSBERRY - After the Great Flood of 1973, Edith North thought she'd seen the worst.

"We figured something like that happens every 100 years, and we'd be gone by the next one and not have to worry about it," she said.

But by early this week it became painfully clear the "Flood of the Century" was about to be surpassed. Edith, her husband Billy, their daughter and two grandchildren moved most of their belongings from their home on Route M, halfway between Elsberry and Foley, to their business, North's Produce, in Elsberry.

Hundreds of other families up and down the Mississippi River basin are doing the same. And as the river nears unprecedented levels, areas of Pike and Lincoln counties are among the hardest hit.

Charles Grojean, an engineer for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' St. Louis District, oversees levees from where the Salt River spills into the Mississippi River, about five miles north of Louisiana, south to the St. Charles County line.

Of the 20 levees within his district, "I only have three left, and Elsberry is going under now," Grojean said.

Water began flowing over the levee near Elsberry early this morning. Grojean said water is topping the 24-mile-long levee at various spots, including a one-mile stretch. Sandbagging efforts continue as volunteers try to control where the water comes in, he said.

Elsberry itself is located about three miles west of the levee. Mayor Bill Waggoner said this morning that sandbagging is now taking place along the Burlington Northern Railroad tracks on the edge of town.

"We'll be sandbagging all day long," Waggoner said. About 6,000 bags were brought into town for the effort. Waggoner said he believes the sandbags will keep flood waters out of most of the town. "I think we're prepared."

At Annada, the river levee broke at about 1 a.m. Tuesday, Grojean said. He expects the entire town, comprised of about 35 homes, to be under water soon. Already, 10 homes are flooded, "and it will get the others," he said.

Schools at Winfield, where the river level stands at 35.7 feet (almost 10 feet above flood stage) have been turned into shelters set up by the American Red Cross. Bob Jacobs, a national Red Cross volunteer who is serving as shelter manager, said the high school there is housing 40 National Guardsmen, and the intermediate school is housing 25 residents displaced by the flood.

"We expect a lot more," he said, noting that 100 cots are already in place and more can be brought to the schools if needed.

The Red Cross in Winfield is serving food for those in the shelter as well as for volunteers battling the flood. Jacobs said 430 meals were served on Tuesday.

In Clarksville, City Clerk Lou Estes said volunteers are working almost non-stop to sandbag along Front Street and three other streets downtown. So far, the efforts have been successful ‹ the stores remain water-free, except for their basements. Volunteers drove to Grafton, Ill., on Tuesday to pick up 40,000 additional sandbags.

While the business district at Clarksville is protected, homes to the south are not. Estes said many homes in the town of 485 are flooded.

Farmers and other residents living in the low-lying areas are suffering huge losses. Grojean said 24,000 acres in his district are already flooded, "and if the Elsberry levee goes under, that's 24,000 more."

Elsberry Mayor Waggoner said, "I talked to a farmer yesterday who put $100,000 worth of crops in this spring. That's already gone. That's who I feel sorry for."

The problems are far from over when the river finally recedes. "Now is the newsworthy stuff," Grojean said. "Then comes the hard part ‹ the cleaning up, the fixing up, the removing the snakes and bugs and mud from the houses."