Valley Park levee-area residents moving possessions
They’re not taking any chances
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| Mary Shapiro photo/ From left, in-law Dave Boyd of High Ridge stands with Alice and Jerry Johnson of Vest Avenue. They packed household items and tools in rental trailers in case the Johnsons must be moved from the Valley Park neighborhood to avoid Meramec River flood waters. |
 
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Jerry and Alice Johnson of Vest Avenue had rented two trucks and, by late morning Thursday, had loaded one entirely with son Marcus’ woodworking equipment and tools from the garage. They were aided by an in-law, Dave Boyd of High Ridge.
The Johnson home isn’t far from the 3.2-mile, $49 million flood levee along the Meramec, completed in 2005, planned and built by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. That levee is undergoing its first big test. Flood waters are expected to crest at 40 feet Saturday. The Corps of Engineers insists the levee can protect up to a 45-foot crest. The highest previous flood level was about 4 inches short of that 40-foot level, in 1982.
The Meramec has flooded parts of the city 14 times in the last 93 years, officials have said.
Flood gates at St. Louis Avenue and Vance Road and two railroad bridges are closed and sandbagged.
"I don’t know if we’ll move out, but I don’t want to lose the equipment in the garage that belongs to my boy, who’s in a wheelchair," Jerry said.
He said Marcus, 32, was in a motorcycle accident 11 years ago but has been active, even making a large display case at Valley Park City Hall.
Alice said the family has been through enough flooding during the 34 years they’ve lived in town and that this threat "nerve-wracking."
"In the 1982 flooding, we lost everything; we had no flood insurance then," she said.
Water came up 29 inches in the house then.
"If it happens this time, it will be the fourth time water has gotten in the house."
Jerry calls the levee "a big pile of dirt that I hope works."
Boyd, married to the couple’s niece, Holly, said he wants to "see what $49 million can do."
"I told myself after it last flooded a lot in 1994 that if it ever did that again — with my son in a wheelchair and with our health problems — I didn’t want to come back here," Alice said. "But I guess we will. This has been our home for so many years."
On Benton Street, Pam Evans also had a rental truck parked in front of her house.
"We’re pretty much all packed and ready to go, just for safety," she said. "I’m sort of nervous. My family had lived here all their lives. The 1982 and 1994 floods ruined everything in my brother’s house on Vest. But I just moved back here in August with my boyfriend from higher ground in Fenton."
Evans said she trusts the levee, "but I can’t get flood insurance here, so close to the river."
"Spending $200 to rent a truck is better than replacing everything I own," Evans, a 1977 Valley Park High graduate, admitted. "I love this area, and I’m glad to be back. I felt that, well, we’ve got the levee now and we should be OK."
On the parking lot at Valley Deli on St. Louis Avenue, Judy Lafleur and Mike Metzger and their daughter, Jewellene Metzger, along with friend Patty Steele and her daughter, Ashley Boyd of Eureka, were rebalancing a stove, box spring, chest of drawers, entertainment center and other items in the back of a pick-up truck.
They had moved the items from their home on Pyramid Drive. The Meramec River levee is in their side yard.
"I don’t trust the levee," Lafleur said. "It’s too new and never tested."
Jewellene said that while the Corps of Engineers said the protection level is up to 45 feet, a letter to residents from Mayor Jeff Whitteaker cites 43 feet.
"We don’t know what we’re supposed to believe," Jewellene said.
The family was flooded in 1993 at a previous home on Vest where water got up to the floorboards. But they haven’t had water in the four years at Pyramid.
"But we’ve always moved everything out in advance, just in case, so we didn’t lose anything," Mike said. "It’s easier to move it all out than trying to replace everything — too much hassle dealing with the insurance company."
Despite the 1993 flood, they moved closer to the river.
"I didn’t have to go as far to launch my boat," Mike said jokingly. "But we like it in Valley Park. It’s nice and quiet."
He and Lafleur said the only time traffic picks up is when there’s a pending flood, and outsiders come in.
On Leonard Avenue, Dennis McBride and son Colton, 10, were moving items out of the garage, basement and the first floor of their home.
Some stuff will go to the second floor and some will go to relatives’ homes.
"My fiancee is out of town, and she’ll be surprised to find her house filled with my stuff when she comes back," McBride said. "I might get divorced before I get married.
"But in 1982, we lost everything. The Corps told us the water wouldn’t get to us, that we had nothing to worry about. When the water did get here, I had no time to move stuff out other than my vehicles."
McBride says he is confident in the levee.
"But with the amount of rain we had, there will be an awfully big wall of water coming," he said. "I’ll do what I have to to protect my things."
Colton can’t remember a big flood but said his brother Casey, 18, does.
Glenn Koenen, executive director of the Circle of Concern food pantry and emergency aid center at 112 St. Louis Ave., praised 65 to 70 volunteers who had come out Thursday to help move equipment and supplies out. That included about 50,000 pounds of food, a large amount of shelving, commercial refrigerators and freezers, as well as several offices full of computers and furniture.
He said the agency was voluntarily evacuating so that operations to help needy families can begin again as soon as possible after the flood threat ends. The Circle’s building had six feet of water when last flooded out in 1994.
"Knowing that, we just couldn’t take the chance of staying," Koenen said.
"Unigroup and its agents donated six large portable storage containers, which were filled and hauled out," Koenen said.
"We may need more help from volunteers about Tuesday, when the flood threat ends, to bring everything back. This is a busy time of year for us anyway. We were tracking to feed 1,100 people this month. There are many low-income families who live in cheaper housing near the river, and many don’t have resources to fall back on in case of a flood."
At City Hall, 320 Benton St., the building has been staying open 24 hours a day and will remain there through the flood threat.
City Clerk Marguerite Wilburn — who left the building at 10:30 p.m. Wednesday and got back at 6:30 a.m. Thursday — said, "People down here are nervous, rightfully so, and want to be cautious, but the Corps has assured us the levee will be OK."
She thanked merchants such as the McDonalds and Corner Pub and Grill at Dougherty Ferry and Big Bend roads, for donating food to City Hall staff.
"People want to stay because this is their home, where they were raised," she said.
Wilburn was in City Hall in 1982, then as secretary to the mayor.
"We moved City Hall operations then to Valley Park United Methodist Church," she said. "Here we moved stuff out of the basement. We didn’t think the water would get to the first floor, but it did, and anything on the floor, like the bottom of file cabinets, got wet."
Ward 4 Alderman Steve Drake said he had talked to Valley Park Elevator at Highway 141 and Marshall Road.
"They’re moving some stuff out, though (merchants in) Meramec Valley Plaza across the street seem to be staying put," Drake said.
Also in City Hall is the Valley Park Library. Head librarian Bonnie Morris said, "We’re staying put, too, though we might wind up moving some books up from the bottom shelves, which is as far up as the worst flood waters in 1982 ever got."
Locals have had help.
Parkway School District staff pitched in to help the Valley Park School District staff move equipment and supplies to higher ground. Twenty-two Parkway staffers, including maintenance, custodial, warehouse and grounds personnel, volunteered to help. They moved kitchen equipment to rental trucks, moved furniture and books to the second floor of the middle school and assisted with installation of a flood protection wall.
Parkway’s director of facilities, Mike Mertens, said, "We are just one school district helping another school. I’m sure Valley Park would help us in the same situation."
Although none of the Valley Park schools have flooded, moving is just a precaution. Robert Malito, Parkway superintendent, said his district is "glad we can help our neighbors to the south."
"We are a large school district, and fortunately we have the personnel to lend a hand," Malito said.
Despite some neighbors leaving, Ward 1 Valley Park Alderman Dan Adams, who lives on Leonard, isn’t budging.
"Of course, I got any important documents, and my family has a plan in place to take out irreplaceable items," he said. "Other than that, I’m preparing for the needs of the community.
"My wife, Donna, has been sandbagging for a couple days, as well as my 17-year-old son, Jeffrey, who’s on spring break from Valley Park High. His cross country team members also are volunteering there, along with their coach."
Adams said he’s more relaxed than most.
"We built the levee to work, not to fail, but I wish we’d had a minor flood first, rather than a record-breaking one, as the first test," he said.
"But all indications are we’ll be fine. This was the purpose I got elected, both as former mayor and as an alderman, to move forward the levee. Those efforts will reap the rewards."
Adams said he is pleased residents who have battled that river for decades finally should have some relief.
"Back in the 1980s, before the levee was started, there were lawsuits filed over use of eminent domain and the TIF funding mechanism, and those were expensive," Adams said. "But these flood waters will be worse than 1982, and everything we spent on the legal battles in the 1980s will be minute compared to the benefit of the levee now, not just monetarily."
Adams’ home had 7.5 feet of water in the 1982 flooding, as did his neighbors.
"It’s the inaugural test of the levee, and I can understand those who are nervous," he said. "But after we go through this and pass the test, you’ll see a lot of confidence."
You can contact Mary Shapiro at mshapiro@yourjournal.com.
