Northwest Missouri State University - Tower Yearbook (Maryville, MO)

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» n what some analysts called the greatest natural disaster of the century, the Great Flood of 93 devas- tated the Midwest with 51 deaths; 65,000 people evacuated from their homes; 34 million acres of land flooded; 50,000 people left unemployed; 517 coun- ties declared federal disaster areas; 57,000 destroyed homes and $5 billion to $10 billion in damages. Many areas were hit as rainfall started in June and did not let up for weeks. Des Moines, Iowa, went without power and water for weeks. Parkville, Riv- erside and St. Joseph, Mo., were flooded and St Joseph also lost its water supply for one week. Northwest was af- fected by the flood, even if minuscule in propor- tion to other areas. It looked like we were down in part-time stu- dents, Michael Walsh, director of Enrollment Man- agement, said. We called freshmen over the sum- mer and there were some who said they weren ' t coming because of the flood. Walsh said others stated financial reasons were the cause for non -enrollment. Walsh said about 30 to 50 people contacted the Financial Assistance Office to say that the flood affected them. — continued THE OREAT FLOOD OF 93 BY DON MUN5CH ilitKlf ' f ' fl •

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FLOOD LECACY AMES, IOWA: The flooding from the Skunk River and Squaw Creek swept through Iowa State University pouring 16 feet of wa- ter into Hihon Coliseum. DESMOINESJOWA: Flood waters damaged the main water plant leaving 250,000 residents without safe drinking water for 1 7 days. HANNIBAL, MO.: A new flood wall protected downtown, but a levee broke one mile up- stream which caused 9,000 acres of farmland to flood. JEFFERSON CITY, MO.: The main link to Columbia, U.S. Highway 63, was closed. Most of several hundred residents of north Jefferson City were evacuated. KANSAS CITY, MO.: Kemper Arena and American Royal buildings filled with three feet of water and went without electricity for 18 hours. K f PARKVILLE, MO.: After ap proximately five feet of water flooded the downtown area, three fourths of the businesses were covered in mud. The city hall and post office also had to be moved temporarily. ST. JOSEPH, MO.: The water system that serviced 85.000 resi- dents was knocked out for a week. Buildings at Iowa Sate University in Ames, Iowa, were heavily damaged, in- cluding Hilton Coliseum, where 14 feet of water stood on the main level. School officials believed water would not touch the complex, therefore it was never in- sured against flood damage. Photo by Jon Britton.

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FLOOD OF 93 We had 25 percent of our zip code areas declared disaster areas, Walsh said. So. I ' m sure if affected students, but it was hard to tell. Like Walsh, Dr. Denise Ottinger, dean of students, did not believe the flood ' s effects would be seen until later. I thought we were more fortunate than our sister institu- tions, Ottinger said. I thought our impact from this had been minimal. A new installment was initiated by Northwest to help students who were affected by the flood. Fewer than 1 students used the plan, according to Treasurer Jeannette Whited. Terri Weichinger, assistant director of financial aid, said many flood victims came in to find out what would be available for them in terms of relief packages. Some had come in to process for loans where they previously did not apply, Weichinger said. We looked at cases on a case-by-case basis. There had to be a determination of loss of their home, farm or some other property. She said some assistance funds, such as the Perkins Loan and work study, were increased and that not everyone had to have lost property to be affected. Some of them were hurt indirectly - they were laid off from ajob, for instance, Weichinger said. That hurts just as much. We treated them just as we would anyone else in our professional judgment. Some students were not directly affected by the flood, but witnessed the flood at its worst. My home wasn ' t affected, Tony Wood, from Hannibal, Mo., said. My neighborhood was up on a hill, but some of the lower-lying areas of tow n were completely under water. However. Emilie Allen, from Glasgow, Mo., said her home was ravaged by waters that consumed the basement and part of the second floor of her home. Renovations were made to redo what the flood destroyed, though the water did not damage the entire premises. We didn ' t have a chance, Allen said. When the levee broke, there was a roar and the water just came through. A lot of folks nearby couldn ' t go back because their homes were destroyed. Allen said her family was severely hurt financially because their livelihood was dependent on crops, which w ere destroyed. One student, not directly affected, was Jeff Roe, who worked during the summerfor the National Guard in Northwest Missouri at Amazonia and Craig. Roe ' s job entailed 12-hour shifts that included evacuating and security clearances. He said the towns were accessible by boats only. It was tragic to see what the flood did, Roe said. You never actually saw how bad it was until you were involved. Tracy Maisel, Hannibal, Mo., said her father lost his cabinet-making business, due to the flood, which was located in the Bearcreek flood plain and had no insurance. It was really sad to see people who lost everything. Maisel said. There were some things you just could not replace like pictures, antiques, etc. Maisel said the heroes of the relief effort were the ones who made a difference; the people who donated time and money. Though the flood menaced the Midwest the way Hurricane Andrew mauled Miami, people learned that Mother Nature should never be taken for granted. 14 Flood