Either That or Float the Loans

First Bank of Elwood crossed the Missouri River last month, accomplishing interstate banking not by law or acquisition, but by disaster.

The small Kansas bank moved its operations across the Missouri’s swollen breadth to St. Joseph, Mo., when the town of Elwood, situated on a spit of land jutting into the river at the northeast corner of the state, was deluged.

“We had to get approval from the Kansas bank commissioner and the Missouri bank commissioner and from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.,” said First Bank President Robert Means, whose family owns most of the bank. “But they were all very understanding.”

First Bank had been having dampness problems all summer because of the heavy rain, Means said. But on July 25, water rushed into the building when the town’s levee, visible from Means’ office half a mile away, gave way.

“We were given a half-hour to evacuate,” Means said. By the end of the day, water on the first floor was 10 1/2 feet deep.