S E RV I N G T H E P U B L I C S I N C E 1 878 • W I N N E R O F 1 8 P U L I TZ E R P R I Z E S
FRIDAY • 01.01.2016 • $1.50
SOGGY AND STUCK
Meramec’s record flood blocks commute for thousands
ROBERT COHEN • rcohen@post-dispatch.com
Nick Prehm of Boeing Drive in Arnold wades through his basement on Thursday, looking to recover what was not ruined by Meramec River floodwater. “I turned 30, got divorced and my house flooded,” Prehm said. “2015 has not been kind.” Read more about Prehm’s ordeal on A11.
River swamps paths to jobs, stores, homes
PAGES A8-A11
BY TIM O’NEIL AND WALKER MOSKOP St. Louis Post-Dispatch
Schools along the Meramec River are mostly spared from water damage.
Coping with the aftermath: a soggy mattress, a country oasis ruined, and a flooded basement at the end of a difficult year.
The bulging Meramec River broke flood records Thursday as it overwhelmed a second interstate highway and stranded thousands of commuters who, on most days, barely give a thought to the meandering stream. For several hours, the only way between Jefferson and St. Louis counties by vehicle was over the Telegraph Road bridge at Arnold. Not surprisingly, it was bumper-to-bumper throughout the day. The Meramec sundered Interstate 55, two miles to the west, at 1:30 a.m. Thursday despite strenuous efforts by highway crews to sandbag and pump water from the low stretch in
Oil and grain deliveries are disrupted by flooding. Swollen rivers and closed roads: a photo essay.
STLTODAY.COM
Complete list of area road closures
See FLOOD • Page A8
DAVID CARSON • dcarson@post-dispatch.com
LEFT • Missouri Department of Transportation workers and Missouri National Guardsmen battle floodwater on I-55 at Meramec Bottom Road.
EPA to require barrier between landfill and radioactive waste
World marks New Year’s with high spirits despite terrorism fear
BY JACOB BARKER St. Louis Post-Dispatch
BY GRIFF WITTE AND BRIAN MURPHY Washington Post
The Environmental Protection Agency said Thursday that it would require a barrier separating the radioactively contaminated West Lake Landfill from the smoldering Bridgeton Landfill. It’s a decision that has been under consideration for more than two years. “Based on the information we have to date, we do think it’s prudent to proceed with the installation of the barrier,” EPA spokeswoman
LONDON • Police in Belgium detained six
See LANDFILL • Page A7
TODAY
37°/25°
Good as new
MOSTLY SUNNY
TOMORROW
40°/26° SUNNY
WEATHER A18
suspects Thursday in another wave of raids targeting a suspected plot to carry out New Year’s Eve attacks, as security agencies around the world imposed extraordinary measures amid heightened fear of terrorist strikes. From Sydney Harbor to the Rose Bowl parade in California, authorities expanded patrols, blocked off several traditional celebration spots
CRISTINA M. FLETES • cfletes@post-dispatch.com
Dave Cady (left), of Webster Groves, and Lisa Macheca, of St. Louis, enjoy New Year’s Eve skating at Steinberg Skating Rink in Forest Park on Thursday. Ice skating followed by a dinner party is their tradition.
Clemson vs. Alabama
See TERRORISM • Page A4
2015 was a rough year for market
The two will square off in the College Football Playoff title game on Jan. 11
Dobbs heirs fight for control
SPORTS • C1
Best new restaurants of 2015
• B1
• B1
Late goals by Wild sink Blues 3-1
• C1
1 M • GO!
POST-DISPATCH WEATHERBIRD ®
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DRENCHING WINTER STORMS
A8 • ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
M 1 • Friday • 01.01.2016
Crests wash out commutes
DAVID CARSON • dcarson@post-dispatch.com
Trailers in the Starling Mobile Home Community in Arnold are swamped Thursday with floodwater from historic flooding on the Meramec River. FLOOD • FROM A1
St. Louis County near the bridge. The Missouri Department of Transportation reopened two northbound lanes about 6 p.m. Thursday, but the southbound section was to remain closed into Friday. It could take longer to reopen Interstate 44, a wide stretch of which was flooded Tuesday near Valley Park. Highway officials said they would need to inspect and clean the road before they could allow traffic. Their hope was to do that Friday. The Lemay Ferry Bridge also was closed for several hours Thursday, then reopened one lane each way. Highway officials could not predict when they will do the same for state highways 21, 30, 109 and 141, all of which are major commuter routes over the Meramec. The only good news for many motorists is that Friday is a holiday. The Metropolitan St. Louis Sewer District said the flood overwhelmed its treatment plants at Fenton and Valley Park, and untreated sewage continued flowing Thursday. Missouri American Water Co. said the river didn’t reach its two purification plants, but it urged continued water conservation in the southern half of St. Louis County “as a precaution.” And in High Ridge, where the Big River did reach Water District 2’s plant, officials issued a boil order and urged residents to conserve. That river breached sandbags at the plant during its crest early Wednesday, and it could take two weeks to resume operations there. District billing administrator Laurie Belford said the order could affect as many as 20,000 people in High Ridge, House Springs and Fenton. The Big River is a tributary of the Meramec. Ameren Missouri said about 1,300 customers along the Meramec lost power or had to be disconnected. AT&T said Thursday that the flood had interrupted telephone service in Fenton and nearby parts of Jefferson County. Fed by record downpours over the weekend, the Meramec set flood records Wednesday and Thursday in Eureka, Valley Park and Arnold. It fell slowly along its lower reaches except at Arnold, where the flow was crashing into the swollen Mississippi River. The Meramec was cresting at Arnold on Thursday night at 47.3 feet, 2 feet over the record set during the Great Flood of 1993. One good sign for residents of the Meramec Valley: Upriver at Sullivan, the river had fallen 25 feet as of Thursday. St. Louis County Executive Steve Stenger called it “nothing short of a miracle that we have had no loss of life” in the metro area. County officials estimated about 425 people were displaced by the flood, but they had no estimates on the number of properties damaged or the likely costs. Greg Horn, district engineer for the Missouri Department of Transportation, said cleanup and repairs “will take a chunk out of our funds. It will be millions.” Franklin County officials estimated that the flood damaged about 380 homes and 70 businesses, most of them along the Meramec in and near Pacific,
ROBERT COHEN • rcohen@post-dispatch.com
“Happy New Year!” Keith Roeder yells as he leaves his trailer in the Starling Mobile Home Community as the Meramec River continued to rise in Arnold on Thursday. “I was here in 1993 and didn’t ever get evacuated,” said Roeder, who was told Wednesday night to leave. “I never ever thought it would get this bad.”
LAURIE SKRIVAN • lskrivan@post-dispatch.com
“It’s going to take a couple of weeks to go down. I have things to do,” said Scott Fox (front), who decided it was time to leave his home on Mississippi Boulevard in Kimmswick. His friend Tony Watkins paddled a boat out and helped Fox come to shore. Two residents decided to stay in the home.
ST. LOUIS-AREA RIVER GAUGES: FORECAST CRESTS LOCATION RIVER
FORECAST FORECAST CREST CREST DATE
Cape Girardeau Mississippi 50.0 ft Sunday Chester Mississippi 47.5 ft Saturday St. Louis Mississippi 42.5 ft Friday
RECORD RECORD CREST CREST DATE
47.9 ft Aug 8, 1993 49.7 ft Aug 7, 1993 49.58 ft Aug 1, 1993
ST. LOUIS-AREA RIVER GAUGES: CRESTED THURSDAY LOCATION RIVER CREST CREST DATE
RECORD RECORD CREST CREST DATE
Arnold Grafton Alton St. Charles Valley Park
45.3 ft 38.2 ft 42.7 ft 39.6 ft 39.7 ft
Meramec Mississippi Mississippi Missouri Meramec
47.2 ft 31.3 ft 35.7 ft 35.2 ft 44.1 ft
Thursday Thursday Thursday Thursday Thursday
Aug 1, 1993 Aug 1, 1993 Aug 1, 1993 Aug 2, 1993 Dec 6, 1982
SOURCES: NOAA, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, NWS Advanced Hydrologic Prediction Service
but also in Union, where the Bourbeuse River reached a record crest Tuesday before falling quickly. Numbers were unavailable Thursday from Jefferson County. A spokesman for the Missouri Department of Public Safety said the rivers must fall before it can assess damage in seeking federal financial help. In formerly flood-prone Valley Park, where a high levee now protects the town, the Meramec crested early Thursday at 44.1 feet, or 4.4 feet over the record set in December 1982. The river fell slowly through the day and, with no rain in the forecast, was expected to drop below flood stage by Sunday.
Mayor Mike Pennise, who had ordered the evacuation of the low parts of town, said residents probably could return Friday. “Everyone is tickled pink that the levee held,” Pennise said. Gov. Jay Nixon had mustered Missouri National Guard soldiers to assist in flood-fighting and rescues throughout the state. On Thursday, they got help from 45 soldiers from the Iowa National Guard through the two-state mutual-aid agreement. A spokesman said the Iowa troops were heading south with 2,000-gallon portable water tanks known as “hippos.” Record rainfall of 8 or more inches across wide areas of Missouri had pushed the Meramec
up 35 feet since Saturday. The Mississippi and Missouri rivers, already unusually high for winter because of heavy rain upstream in mid-December, also jumped 15 feet but did not set records. The Mississippi was cresting late Thursday at the Gateway Arch at 42.4 feet, more than 12 feet over flood stage — enough to take third place in the records but still 7 feet below the peak of Aug. 1, 1993. The Mississippi at St. Louis was expected to return below flood stage on Jan. 7. The two major rivers got high enough to cancel Amtrak service between St. Louis and Jefferson City to the west and De Soto to the south. The Union Pacific Railroad, which operates the river-hugging lines used by Amtrak, rerouted 70 trains because of the flood. The Mississippi’s crest Thursday at St. Louis was just short of tying the crest in the flood of April 1973, the “big one” until the summer of 1993 came along. In both of those floods, water backing up in the River Des Peres in south St. Louis caused havoc to surrounding neighborhoods. In 1993, hundreds were out of their homes for more than a month. Afterward, government agencies raised the levees along the Des Peres and installed a series of gates and pumps to keep water out of homes while allowing sewer service. City and sewer
district spokesmen said the system worked without incident this week, even though water rose against the sides of the Morganford Road bridge Thursday. Downstream in Arnold, there was plenty of weariness. In the Bayshore subdivision, the swollen Meramec took over backyards and caused sewage backups in some basements, though only a few homes were flooded. Residents and helpers spent days lining up more than 140,000 sandbags behind the subdivision to protect it. At the end of Bayvue Boulevard, Jessica Boeckelmann, looked out across muddy water Thursday. Normally, she said, “This is all a field. You can’t see the river from here.” She gestured toward a metal fence a foot or two above water. “That’s a baseball backstop,” she said. A bit of sewage backed up in her basement, but there was no damage to her home on Ballast Point Drive. Just outside of Arnold near Highway 141, Vesta Bade stood with a camera hanging from her neck, looking across flooded sections of the Meramec Meadows subdivisions. “I’m waiting on a boat,” she said. Her basement was flooded, as was the entrance to the subdivision. The flood brought numerous beer cans and liquor bottles bobbing on the surface. “I don’t even understand how this happened,” Bade said. “I just don’t. This is so unreal.” Because some parts of the Arnold area had flooded for decades, the community had bought up more than 200 lowlying properties since 1979. In the Pleasant Valley neighborhood, Rick Eckert’s home was about 75 yards from the nearest visible grass. He moved there in 1994, one year after the Great Flood. “I figured, ‘What the heck? I’ll be dead and gone before it happens again,’” Eckert said. High water closed the SSM Health Urgent Care in Arnold on Thursday. To the north in St. Charles County, efforts to bolster a levee near Portage des Sioux appeared to have paid off as the Mississippi began falling in nearby Grafton. County officials had been warning that part of the North County Consolidated levee might fail. Conditions were stable Thursday night. Downstream at Ste. Genevieve, 50 miles south of St. Louis, the post-1993 levee was holding against the rising Mississippi, now forecast to crest on Saturday 2 feet shy of the 1993 record. Felix Meyer, Ste. Genevieve County emergency director, said a farm levee downstream failed Thursday. No homes were in the affected area. People in Cape Girardeau, Mo., were bracing for a recordbreaking level as the crest moves downstream. The forecast for Sunday would be 1.5 feet higher than the 1993 record. The downtown area is protected by a high concrete floodwall. Kim Bell, Jacob Barker, Christine Byers, Kurt Erickson, David Hunn, Doug Moore and Alex Stuckey, all of the Post-Dispatch, contributed to this report. Tim O’Neil • 314-340-8132 @timoneilpd on Twitter toneil@post-dispatch.com
01.01.2016 • Friday • M 1
DRENCHING WINTER STORMS
ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH • A9
Meramec flooding mostly spares schools Transportation might be a problem if roads are still submerged when classes resume BY ELISA CROUCH AND KIM BELL St. Louis Post-Dispatch
As the Meramec River rose on Wednesday night, the superintendent of Valley Park schools barely slept, wondering if the muddy river would spill over the floodgate and into his schools. The river stopped a few inches short of topping the floodgate, about 50 feet from the campus that holds an elementary, a middle and a high school. District officials had spent part of the day hauling as much technology as possible to the second floor, just in case water flooded the building. “It’s a little stressful,” Superintendent Dave Knes said, after checking the schools Thursday morning and finding them dry. “We’re cautiously optimistic right now. I say that because it’s
still really high.” Throughout the region, school officials say their buildings have been largely spared the flood damage that has led to highway closures and ruined homes along the Meramec and other rivers. Winter break for many schools ends Monday. Other districts have staff meetings scheduled for Monday, with classes resuming Tuesday. In the Fox School District in Jefferson County, Superintendent Jim Wipke notified parents by letter that there might be transportation delays if some road closures continued past the weekend. The driveway to Ridgewood Middle School, near the Meramec River and Highway 141, is under about 4 to 6 feet of water. But the building itself hasn’t
been touched. Nor has any other building in the Fox district. “We’re actually really lucky,” Wipke said. “I anticipate when we get back on Monday we’re going to hear a lot more about our families in need.” Members of the student councils at Seckman and Fox high schools have volunteered for sandbagging efforts to prevent flooding in Kimmswick. The Lindbergh School District used its Twitter feed to recruit volunteers to fill sandbags in subdivisions in Sunset Hills. In Eureka, the superintendent of the Rockwood School District took a boat to get into Eureka High School, which appeared to be surrounded by a moat. Firefighters from Maryland Heights ferried Eric Knost in a motorized raft across the school parking lot hidden by deep,
muddy water. They passed the tops of flagpoles, trees and a baseball backstop. The historic flooding on the Meramec River had surrounded the high school on Highway 109. Knost got a peek inside the school and found that water did enter the building, “but it was not extreme,” Knost told district residents in a letter. The wrestling room, the aerobics room and the locker room all took on water, he said, but none of the damage is believed to be significant or permanent. The locker room was the worst, with murky water that was perhaps 8 inches deep. The gymnasium remained dry, proof that the sandbagging efforts the day before had worked, Knost said. Some storage areas a few steps down took in some water, but the custodial team on
Tuesday had managed to move supplies to higher ground. Another district school nearby, Geggie Elementary at 430 Bald Hill Road, wasn’t affected by flooding, he said. District officials are waiting for water to recede before beginning cleanup efforts. By the time students return Tuesday, schools should be operating as normal. The only question is bus service, and whether there will be delays because of road closures. “We will leave it to our transportation department and our professionals to determine if we need any alternative routes,” district spokeswoman Cathy Orta said. “But we are hopeful that all will be fine.” Elisa Crouch • 314-340-8119 @elisacrouch on Twitter ecrouch@post-dispatch.com
FLOODING DIGEST
PHOTOS BY LAURIE SKRIVAN • lskrivan@post-dispatch.com
Displaced Arnold resident John Gamache teaches volunteer Conner Zwierski, 9, to play the harmonica on Thursday at a Red Cross shelter at the First Baptist Church in Arnold. “The whole basement sounded like there was a waterfall inside,” recalled Gamache, who arrived Wednesday after being evacuated from his home.
Drone use in flooded areas is discouraged • The Missouri Highway Patrol is asking people to not fly drones over these cities: Union, Eureka, Valley Park, West Alton and Arnold — or anywhere else that they see a helicopter. The agency says that the drone aircraft could interfere with emergency services personnel, compromising their safety or ability to deliver relief to flood victims. In a press release, the Highway Patrol acknowledges that some organizations’ safety guidelines, such as those from the Academy of Model Aeronautics, may allow drone flying up to 400 feet. But state and local authorities have been flying closer to the ground than normal to survey flooding and determine the integrity of levees and other structures. “Operating drones in or near flooded areas that are being monitored by helicopters can pose a serious danger to the crew on board,” the press release said. “Aircraft are also used for search and rescue operations. During these low-level operations, the flight crews’ attention is focused upon fulfilling their missions, and should not be compromised by unmanned aerial flights.” Despite their popularity, the use of drones remains largely unregulated, leaving lawmakers in many states, including Missouri, to debate how to best police their use. (From staff reports) JEFFERSON CITY > Amtrak suspends service through Missouri • Amtrak has suspended traffic on a route that runs from Kansas City to St. Louis because of flooding in Missouri. Amtrak spokesman Craig Schulz says the cancellations started Wednesday. Passengers on the River Runner were bused on Thursday. Train service from Kansas City to Jefferson City will resume Friday. People going on to St. Louis will have to ride a bus. There’s no word on when the train route might reopen. The Amtrak route shares a line that is also used for freight traffic.
company. (Kim Bell) VERNON COUNTY, MO. > Searches resume for 2 missing in southwest Missouri • Searches have resumed in southwestern Missouri for two men who are missing after recent flooding. One of the men is a duck hunter who disappeared this weekend from the Four Rivers Conservation Area in Vernon County. Sgt. John H. Lueckenhoff of the Missouri State Highway Patrol said the hunter was thought to be somewhere in a 3,500-acre field in 10 feet of water. Crews are focusing on an area where the hunter’s boat and belongings were found. Volunteers also are searching for a motorist who disappeared Saturday night as he prepared to cross a bridge over the Pomme de Terre River in Polk County. Guardrails kept the man’s vehicle from washing away. Lueckenhoff says search teams and cadaver dogs are being used to look for the motorist. (AP) Gracie Ijames, 9, of Imperial, warms her hands at a bonfire on Thursday in Kimmswick. The recently built-up levees are keeping water out of the town. Gracie is the daughter of the city clerk and was in town with her mother.
Union Pacific says two sections of track in Missouri and two in Illinois are out of service because of rising water. The Missouri stretches span from Jefferson City to St. Louis and from St. Louis to De Soto. The Illinois stretches span from Mount Vernon to Percy and from Springfield to Nelson. Omaha, Neb.-based Union Pacific says in a statement that 70 trains in the St. Louis area have been held or rerouted because of high water levels. Crews have put rock ballast, heavy machinery and generators in several areas near flooded tracks to assist with repairs when water levels fall. (AP) ST. LOUIS > Hospitals see no impact from flooding • Despite extensive flooding in the St. Louis region, hospital officials say it’s business as usual — though getting to some health care facilities can be tricky. SSM Health St. Clare Hospital
in Fenton near Highway 141 and Interstate 44 is one of the hospitals situated in an area with limited access to major highways. Jamie Sherman, spokeswoman for the Creve Coeur-based health system, said that despite major flooding there had been no influx of patients or need for emergency services. The hospital has reported no flood damage. Sherman said staffers readied the hospital for an emergency situation given the rising water. St. Anthony’s Medical Center, situated in south St. Louis County near flooding and closed portions of Interstate 55, is dry and operating normally, according to Joe Poelker, media spokesman. Mercy Hospital Jefferson reports no damage and no influx of patients at its Jefferson County location. First responders with Abbott EMS St. Louis, operating about 35 ambulances in the metropolitan
area, said the floodwater had not stopped them from getting to patients in need. “All the calls that we have received we’ve been able to handle,” said Jim McDonald, operations manager. (Samantha Liss) ST. LOUIS > Anheuser-Busch delivering water to Jefferson County • Anheuser-Busch has provided 1,372 cases — or 32,928 cans —of emergency drinking water for St. Louis-area residents affected by flooding and storms. Local A-B distributor HW Herrell Distributing Co. is coordinating with the American Red Cross and local agencies to distribute the water near Imperial. “People in Missouri are in need of fresh drinking water. This is one way Anheuser-Busch and our local wholesalers can help our neighbors,” said Pete Kraemer, head brewmaster and vice president of supply for the beer
TAYLORVILLE, ILL. > 2 teens missing in central Illinois • Authorities were searching floodwater for two 18-year-olds from the central Illinois town of Taylorville. Police say the two were last seen Monday and divers concentrated their search Wednesday near flooded areas of Sangchris Lake and Pawnee, where one of the teen’s cellphone was tracked. Christian County emergency services director Mike Crews told the State Journal-Register that “it’s going to be difficult to find them” because the water is so high that authorities may have to wait for it to recede. Seven people have died in Illinois flooding since last week. Gov. Bruce Rauner declared five more counties disaster areas on Wednesday for a total of 12. Christian County is among them. Rauner was scheduled to return to Springfield on Thursday evening and planned to survey flood damage. (AP)
A10 • ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
DRENCHING WINTER STORMS
M 1 • Friday • 01.01.2016
DAVID CARSON • dcarson@post-dispatch.com
Historic flooding on the Meramec River closes Tesson Ferry Road in St. Louis County on Thursday.
Roads to nowhere The St. Louis area has been nearly impossible to navigate through, as floodwater has poured over two interstate highways and hundreds of other spots on smaller roads.
DAVID CARSON • dcarson@post-dispatch.com
Both directions of Interstate 44, seen here Thursday at its intersection with Highway 141, were closed for a 24-mile stretch early Wednesday. The closure could last through Friday.
DAVID CARSON • dcarson@post-dispatch.com
Water from the swollen Meramec River covers Gravois Road in Fenton on Thursday.
LAURIE SKRIVAN • lskrivan@post-dispatch.com A marker from the Great Flood of 1993 on a railroad bridge trestle reveals that the water has not yet reached historic levels on Thursday in Kimmswick.
DAVID CARSON • dcarson@post-dispatch.com
The Mississippi River pushes against the floodgate in Ste. Genevieve, Mo., on Thursday. Little Rock Road is the street that dead-ends at the flood wall.
DAVID CARSON • dcarson@post-dispatch.com
Crews from the Missouri Department of Transportation and the Missouri National Guard battle Meramec River floodwater Thursday on Interstate 55, which was shut down in both directions at Meramec Bottom Road.
DRENCHING WINTER STORMS
01.01.2016 • Friday • M 1
ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH • A11
TALES FROM THE FLOOD A BEAUTIFUL PROPERTY ‘EXCEPT WHEN THIS HAPPENS’ VALLEY PARK • Country living in the suburbs drew the Walsh family down from a hilly part of town to the lowland. They like bonfires and seeing deer poke through the woods. An occasional kayaker cruises by on Fishpot Creek toward the Meramec River. “It’s a beautiful property,” said Marcia Walsh, 59. “Except when this happens,” said her daughter, Dawn Autry, 36. On Thursday, their home appeared to be one of only a few that weren’t protected by a massive levee system in Valley Park. Murky water swallowed their twostory house in the 200 block of Rear Main Street. It used to be a blue barn until they rebuilt it, adding all kinds of features such as floor tile and a three-car garage. They knew to move the tools and appliances out. They even put the propane tank on a leash. But the water came up quickly after that. They had to leave spare clothing behind. On Thursday, without thick coats, they looked at their property from nearby Sacred Heart Cemetery, which was largely flooded. The waterline reached just past the tombstone of Charlie J. Manegre, which had a boat and fisherman etched into the rock. Another nearby grave had a piece of tiramisu cake, sealed in a plastic container, on it. “Must have been for New Year’s,” said Andrea Reiter, there with her husband, Paul, to put a poinsettia on her father’s grave. They didn’t expect to see anybody else there. But they ran into the Walsh family. “Bless you; I am so sorry,” Paul Reiter told them. The Walshes have been through this before, just not on such a grand scale. They have insurance, though not for their possessions. It will take time to rebuild. “Hopefully, they won’t have another record for 100 years,” Autry said about water
HUY MACH • hmach@post-dispatch.com
Marcia Walsh checks Thursday on the water level at her flooded home next to the Sacred Heart Cemetery in Valley Park.
levels in the area. Neighbor Eugene Watson was fortunate. Barely. Floodwater surrounded three-quarters of his house, right up to an enormous woodpile for the stove, which was wellfed Thursday. “I used to wonder about people who live on the river — why don’t you leave?” he said. “If it’s your home, where are you going to go?” The Walshes have options. They just like the woods, the privacy, especially the water. — Jesse Bogan
SIX MEN AND A SOGGY MATTRESS
PHOTO COURTESY OF THE WALSH FAMILY
A DIFFICULT YEAR — AND NOW THIS ARNOLD • North of Starling Road, in Arnold, the water in Nick Prehm’s basement had subsided by a few feet. It was now up to his thighs. He waded around in the dark basement, which had become more manageable with the aid of a sump pump. On Tuesday, he had set a bunch of his possessions on tables, which were then carried off the floor by the water and were now floating around with the rest of his possessions. He gave his washer and dryer a push. He lifted a pair of gym shorts from the bottom with his foot. He pulled a pork steak from the deep freezer, which was drifting on its side. It’s been a difficult year, Prehm said:
PACIFIC • As the light
dimmed here Thursday night on Meramec Street, a six-man crew was giddy, given the bare-knuckle task at hand and a little bad luck. The enormous mattress they needed to wrestle out of a flooded cellar lay flat in the water, not on its side. That it was completely soaked made it very heavy. Each grabbed hold, as much as they could. Somebody yelled the count. Soon the heaving was on. They skidded the floppy mattress across the floor. Getting it up the cellar stairs and onto a muddy pile of junk in the yard took several attempts. “It was total dead weight,” said Kyle Mebruer, 22. He was itching to get to a friend’s party in Potosi. Another laborer said you didn’t want to know what he was doing for New Year’s Eve. They all work for Michael Gallagher, who said he owned 108 rental units in town, about a quarter of which were damaged by flooding. After evacuations and sandbagging, a new race started Thursday to keep mold and mildew at bay. Once the standing water and junk were out of the one-bedroom home that rents for $350 a
The Walsh family, of Valley Park, had their home flooded by rising water from Fishpot Creek.
a divorce, an accounting job that’s soon to end after his employer merged with another company, and now this. But it was important to emphasize the positive, he said. He doesn’t have to go to a shelter; he has family to stay with. His neighbors have helped him. His sister and brotherin-law brought the sump pump. His first floor was pristine. He, his son, his former wife and his neighbors are all safe, he said. “We’ve all been banding together,” Prehm said. “It makes me very grateful for what I have and the family I have,” he said. — Walker Moskop
JESSE BOGAN • jbogan@post-dispatch.com
Kyle Mebruer, 22, struggles along with other workers to remove a soaked mattress from a cellar in Pacific.
month, industrial fans would go to work. “The faster you get on it, nothing will grow,” said Gallagher. “It will be like an incubator down there if you let it.” He runs a heating and cooling business, but with all the rentals on top of
that his crew moves a lot of furniture. “You name it, we do it,” said Justin Smith, 32. He smiled when the wet mattress was in its place on the pile. “The last one of 2015,” he said. — Jesse Bogan
LAURIE SKRIVAN • lskrivan@post-dispatch.com
“I think I need a wetsuit,” said Aaron Selsor, who uses his feet to plug a hole in the north levee on Thursday in Kimmswick. Volunteers and prisoners with the Department of Corrections out of Farmington continued to sandbag and monitor the two levees in town.
Flooding disrupts flow of oil, grain, chemicals, more FROM STAFF AND WIRE REPORTS
The worst flooding across the Midwest in four years is disrupting everything from oil to agriculture, forcing pipelines, terminals and grain elevators to close and killing off thousands of pigs. Fifty miles of the Illinois River have been closed, according to the U.S. Coast Guard, as well as 81 miles of the Mississippi River in two segments. The flooding is the worst since May 2011, when rising water on the Mississippi and its tributaries deluged cities, slowed barge traffic and threatened refinery and chemical operations. The current situation increases stockpiles of crude oil and may extend this year’s price slide. Hog producers in Southern Il-
linois are calling other farmers, hoping to find extra barn space to relocate their pigs, said Jennifer Tirey, executive director of the Illinois Pork Producers Association. Processors are sending additional trucks out to retrieve market-ready pigs, she said. In one case, an overflowing creek took out electricity and made roads impassable, causing 2,000 pigs to drown. “There was no way to get the pigs out,” Tirey said. “Honestly, it was just an act of God. That creek had so much rain.” So far, the biggest oil shutdown involves Enbridge Inc.’s Ozark pipeline, which was booked to carry about 200,000 barrels a day last month to the Wood River Refinery in Roxana from Cushing, Okla. The outage of the sec-
tion under the Mississippi River may further add to stockpiles at Cushing that reached a record high last week. Spectra Energy Corp. shut the 145,000 barrel-a-day Platte oil pipeline between Guernsey, Wyo., and the Wood River Refinery as a precaution because of the river’s condition, the company said in an emailed statement. Despite the pipeline interruptions, the Wood River Refinery is operating normally and there are no plans to shut it down, said spokeswoman Meg Allen. “We’re operating just fine,” she said. The refinery is a joint venture of Phillips 66 and Cenovus Energy. Flooding near West Alton forced Ameren Missouri to ferry workers to its Sioux power plant beginning Wednesday, but the
plant was spared any damage. A utility spokeswoman said ferry service should stop as water recedes Thursday night. While floodwater hasn’t reached Ameren’s Meramec power plant in far south St. Louis County near Arnold, the utility stopped producing power there Wednesday as water rose near the roads around the plant. “We didn’t need the load so we shut it down,” spokeswoman Lori Light said. The coal ash ponds on site at Meramec aren’t overflowing, she said. Kinder Morgan Inc. shut its Cahokia terminal in Sauget and its Cora terminal in Rockwood, Ill., company spokesman Richard Wheatley said by email. Cahokia handles chemicals, coal, cement and metals, while Cora handles
coal and petcoke, according to the company’s website. Kinder Morgan declared a force majeure, which protects it from liability for contracts that go unfulfilled for reasons beyond its control. The Southern Illinois co-op Gateway FS Inc. has closed three of its grain elevators. Employees are working extended hours to accommodate the large number of farmers hauling in grain from on-farm bins that could be compromised by flooding, general manager Carl Tebbe said. “We’re just hopeful the water doesn’t quite get as high as what they’re saying,” Tebbe said. “Everyone has done a lot of work.” Bloomberg News and Jim Gallagher and Jacob Barker of the Post-Dispatch contributed to this report.