Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, August 1, 1993 TAG: 9308010089
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: ST. LOUIS LENGTH: Medium
This, St. Louis residents feared, could be just the beginning.
Rivers still had not reached their peaks, and forecasters said weekend thunderstorms could dump as much as 3 inches of rain on parts of the area, straining more tattered levees.
"The levees really could easily give way in a situation like this," said meteorologist Ron Przybylinski of the National Weather Service. "Really, any kind of heavy rainfall could make the situation worse."
How bad were things? So bad that even two flood relief concerts featuring Bob Dylan and John Mellencamp were canceled this weekend. Flooding closed highway U.S. 40, and authorities feared 20,000 concertgoers would delay emergency workers by clogging the remaining roads.
It appears to be St. Louis' turn to again bear the brunt of two months of flooding that has claimed 45 lives and caused $10 billion in damage in nine Midwestern states.
The second battering comes as crests on the Missouri and Mississippi rivers are due to collide Monday north of the city, swelling the Mississippi to its highest level ever.
In the city, the Mississippi is forecast to reach 49.3 feet, less than 3 feet below the main floodwall and well above the previous record of 47.05 feet on July 20.
High water from that crest flooded hundreds of homes in south St. Louis along the River Des Peres, which feeds the Mississippi.
Authorities kept a nervous eye on that area Saturday because of dozens of 30,000-gallon propane tanks that floated off their moorings and threatened to rupture their pipes. Hundreds of homes had been evacuated for fear a fireball could erupt.
In suburban Chesterfield, 20 miles west of downtown, a levee broke overnight and water first began flowing through a 7-foot hole. By morning, the gap had grown to a staggering 75 feet.
Business owners who had been frantically piling sandbags soon shifted their efforts to frantically pumping water.
By morning, under gray, thundercloud-filled skies, Spirit of St. Louis Airport sat under as much as 11 feet of water, along with dozens of small farms and 490 restaurants, stores and light industrial plants.
Firefighters maneuvered their boats through the perilous, debris-laden floodwaters to reach weary people who had sought refuge on rooftops. Other people were plucked to safety by helicopters. In all, 25 to 30 were rescued.
The rest got out before the waters were too high. No serious injuries were reported, but the financial losses will be staggering.
"It's just devastating. I don't know how else to say it: just devastating," said Tom Sehnert, 44, who was rescued on a roof by a boat after his all-night losing effort to keep water out of his restaurant and food store.
At Spirit of St. Louis, one of the state's busiest airports with a constant flow of corporate jets and private planes, only broken planes that wouldn't fly and vintage craft in a museum were not moved to other airfields.
Brett Affholder helped his father, Bob, move tractors and heavy equipment out of their family business, a sewer rehabilitation company. The waters rose and the pair eventually had to take to the roof, where they were rescued by a fire department boat.
"I was just trying to save what my father worked for all his life," said Brett Affholder. "That's all I was trying to do."
by CNB