This article first appeared in the St. Louis Beacon, April 28, 2011 - According to the National Weather Service, flood warnings are in effect for much of the area, from Quincy, Ill., to Cape Girardeau.
In Chester Wednesday morning, flood waters had begun making their way through Water and Kaskaskia streets. From their bluff-top view, people there could see water filling the bottoms on the Missouri side of the river.
At Lock and Dam No. 24 in Clarksville, sandbags were ready, and in Clarksville itself, they'd been out for weeks.
And in Ste. Genevieve, the levee district was preparing for a crest comparable to that of 1993, before there was a levee.
"No matter what happens, our system is going to be put to the test this week," said Martin Toma, city administrator.
And in that test, they're trusting the levee will do what it was built for.
According to the National Weather Service, flood warnings are in effect for much of the area, from Quincy, Ill., to Cape Girardeau.
While the tools used to predict floods have become more sophisticated over time, cities affected by floods also seem to be better prepared, too.
"With our assistance, I believe that a lot more towns and levee districts are a lot more aware of how much is coming and when," said Jake Scanlon, chief of emergency operations with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, St. Louis district.
Scanlon has been in his present position for 12 years and in emergency operations for 20. "There were a lot of lessons learned in '93," he said.
Communications are one area that's improved a lot, he said, from the use of cell phones for flood fighting teams in the field to better communications between the corps and local authorities, including emergency management at county and state levels in both Missouri and Illinois.
"We are in constant communication with them," Scanlon said.
Pam Meyer, a city clerk in Ste. Genevieve, was around for both the floods of 1993 and 2008. She doesn't think anything will compare to 1993, thanks to the levee built after that flood.
"It's doing what it was designed to do," she says. "And hopefully it will stay that way and we won't end up like Poplar Bluff."
In Chester, the water's already on the streets, but is expected to affect only a pump station, a ConAgra plant and one entrance to the Menard Correctional Center, said Ryan Coffey, chief of police. And while much of the city is located on a bluff, the recent rain has caused some washouts and mudslides, he said.
In Clarksville, Lock and Dam No. 24 has a very specific standard operating procedure, said Jared Miller, an equipment mechanic. Miller said on Wednesday that the flood level was just over 31 feet.
"At 32.5, we go out of operation," he said.
Sandbags were on hand, and more than 60 feet long concrete barriers were built to create a permanent wall in the place where sandbags went up in 2008. In addition, both Clarksville and the dam are using a newer kind of sandbag and have automated ways to fill them, using equipment instead of muscles and shoulders.
In Cape Girardeau, police officer Darin Hickey said the city has a strong preparedness system and officers have been keeping an eye on flood areas, preparing to block roads if necessary. Maintaining communication is key there, as with the corps.
With social media, the corps can communicate directly with people through facebook and twitter.
"The public is more aware," Scanlon said.
And he sees evidence of that from last week's tornado. "There was so much information out there that no one was killed, no one was seriously hurt."
With flooding, Mary Markos, public affairs specialist with the corps, also sees a change in attitude since 1993. Now, it's not just the corps and levee districts dealing with floods, but individuals at every level.
"Now, everyone is trying to stay involved," Scanlon agreed.
Toma wasn't in Ste. Genevieve for the 1993 or 2008 floods, but says that in 2008, the levee built after the '93 flood worked, though wasn't a true test of the levee's strength.
This week may be, though, he said.
While there are relief wells and pumps, if there is a failure of the levee there, Toma said, businesses in the downtown business district will be at greatest risk of flooding. Because of a voluntary flood buy-out program after the 1993 flood, Toma said, most homes in the flood plain were purchased with FEMA and local matching funds.
But in the worst case scenario, it won't be enough.
"If the levee were to be breached, the flood water would go well past the buy-outs into the heart of the city."
That wouldn't happen quickly, he said, and there would be time to see it coming, take remedial steps like sandbagging and informing the public. Now, he said, sandbags are full and ready.
Like many towns along the river, Ste. Genevieve is hoping what it's been through in the past has prepared it for the present. "Like anything," Toma said, "experience is a great teacher."
These experts say that fighting floods is an ongoing, day-to-day, often minute-to-minute operation.
"It's gonna do what it's gonna do," Miller said. "You can't do anything to change it. You can just prepare for it."
But ultimately, Scanlon agreed, "You're just going with the flow."