Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, May 18, 1990 TAG: 9005180732
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A/2 EDITION: EVENING
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
"I have nothing left," said Frank Crouch, leaning on his mailbox and looking at his mobile home sitting in a pool of water in Kansas City.
Oklahoma, Arkansas and Indiana also coped with flooding today.
Flooding has caused at least 13 deaths in Texas and one in Oklahoma in the past three weeks, and millions of dollars in damage.
In Texas, floodwaters from Lake Livingston, about 75 miles northeast of Houston, are expected to inundate more than 200 square miles along the Trinity River.
The Trinity River Authority released water from the rain-swollen lake at a record rate of 100,800 cubic feet per second early today as residents prepared for their second week of flooding.
The most seriously damaged subdivision was Camilla Cove just below the dam, where more than 75 homes were damaged. Roads looked like canals, and the water was at window level in some areas.
"The waters are still rising," said Dean Chapman, 60-year-old owner of Chapman's Grocery in Walker County. "It's terrible. The only way you can get in and out is by boat. It's 10 feet deep here."
About 7,000 people below the dam have been urged for a week to evacuate as floodwaters rose, but many people remained in their homes to guard against looting, said San Jacinto County Sheriff's Deputy M.E. McGregor.
So far, McGregor said, curiosity seekers have been a bigger problem. Sightseers in boats have had to be escorted away from Camilla Cove and swift currents at the dam.
Texas Gov. Bill Clements asked that three more counties be declared eligible for disaster aid. Thirty-three counties already have been declared eligible for federal assistance.
In Missouri, Gov. John Ashcroft declared Jackson County, which includes Kansas City, a disaster area.
"I've been wearing sunglasses the past two days so people can't see I'm crying from time to time," said David Hill, owner of Frog's Salvage Co. Hill estimated his losses at $2 million.
The Mississippi River is expected to crest Saturday at St. Louis at 34 feet, 4 feet above flood stage. City workers began piling up sandbags near the city's trademark arch, but officials were not expecting any damage.
In Lousiana, floodwaters covered more than 90,000 acres of farmland Thursday and threatened still more as the biggest flood in 33 years moved down the Red River through central Louisiana.
The Army Corps of Engineers estimated that 350,000 acres of farmland and nearly as much forest land may be flooded before the crest disappears next week into the much deeper Atchafalaya River.
Floods along the Red and Arkansas rivers have hit southern and eastern Oklahoma. Oklahoma Gov. Henry Bellmon has requested disaster aid for 36 of the state's 77 counties. Bellmon also dispatched a helicopter to help get feed to more than 200 cattle.
by CNB