Coast Guard Works to Get Last Missouri Flood Victims to Flee

Coast Guard crews tried to get the last residents out of this isolated village Thursday night before floodwaters rose above shoulder height.

“It’s very, very dangerous for people to be in there at all,” Coast Guard Lt. Christopher Smith said. “It’s dangerous for the residents and our crews with all that electricity around.”

Some residents disconnected power to their homes as the floodwaters inched higher, and other homes lost power because of damage to poles and power lines.

Union Electric had considered shutting off service to West Alton, but decided against it because of the residents still there, Smith said.

Coast Guard at Scene

Half a dozen orange Coast Guard rescue boats plied through fog and roiling floodwaters Thursday night, urging the last few residents to abandon the town.

“Crews went door to door with an advisory informing people to evacuate,” Smith said. “Floodwaters are at shoulder height or deeper and are expected to rise another foot and a half.

“Everyone is out who has requested evacuation,” he said. “We have no reports of people in imminent danger. The Missouri Water Patrol says about 30 houses are occupied--that would be about 50 people.

“We could take medicine or supplies to people, but so far we have no requests to do that. Our boats are patrolling the area and we have a helicopter overhead in case we have to make another evacuation.”

Two Rivers Joined

Traffic to West Alton had been cut off Wednesday, when levees on both sides of town, at the confluence of the Missouri River and the Mississippi River, were overrun.

“The Mississippi and the Missouri have joined, and it’s almost impossible to distinguish one from the other,” Smith said. “It’s going to take several days for the water to go down.”

Gov. John Ashcroft said a preliminary survey showed that the flooding has caused more than $100 million in damage, including at least $30 million to homes and $75 million in agricultural losses. Nearly 1.8 million acres of crops in 21 counties have been reported destroyed.

Ashcroft said he had asked President Reagan to declare 25 counties disaster areas, which would provide low-interest loans for businesses and homeowners.

A state official said 7,300 people had been left temporarily homeless because of flooding in Missouri in the last week, mainly along the Missouri River.