“If there was any question about when and where a flood might strike in Southern Missouri, or how severe the consequences might be, then those questions were answered in Reynolds County during the early morning hours of December 14th.   The floodwaters from the Taum Sauk Reservoir swept away semi trucks, passenger cars, and a family of five.

 

The photos of the devastation are unbelievable, but not as amazing as the fact that no one was killed by the billion gallons of water that escaped the reservoir.  Newspaper and TV reports of the event are a grim reminder of the raw power of water and the force it can generate.

 

Reynolds County looks to the outside observer like the last place on earth for a flood.  The Black River is normally gentle.  It makes a great causeway for float trips in the summer months.  Combined with the mountainous terrain and national forest, few places in our state are more scenic.  The Taum Sauk Reservoir is pretty much located at the highest point in Missouri.

 

Between the Taum Sauk in the north of the county and Clearwater Lake in the south, no flood protection exists and numerous bridges cross the river.  Even though the flood never made it to the Clearwater Dam, the reason for having this structure in place is clear.  Over $100 million will ultimately be invested in this project to make certain the infrastructure can handle future events that might not seem so obvious alongside the usually tame Black River.  At the heart of the Taum Sauk flood is a simple truth just as commonsense as the saying, “where there’s smoke, there’s fire”: that truth? “Where there’s water, there can be a flood.”

 

This is the reason we have flood protection throughout our state, and it is important to keep that infrastructure in good condition.  Valuable lessons can be gleaned from living along any river. Now, neighbors of the Black River know what neighbors of the Mississippi and Missouri have experienced for years.  Our dams, levees, berms, pumping stations and river management are all essential to the protection of life and property.  They are the necessary protections we need to live in balance with nature, to neither let it overcome us nor us overcome it. 

 

It was not Hurricane Katrina that caused the most pain to the city of New Orleans, it was the failure of the city’s levee system that allowed the unbelievable destruction to occur.  The Clearwater Dam is just as necessary to keep citizens safe and dry and keeping the river in its place.  This is our tax dollars at work, at Clearwater and dozens of other flood protection sites around Southern Missouri, at our lakes and along our rivers.  We cannot permit the same problems that occurred in New Orleans to happen here.

 

There is one more component to flood protection – not made of concrete or earth.  Our first responders did a phenomenal job of quickly evacuating those in harm’s way and of saving those who were already in it.  Local firefighters, Emergency Medical Services, sheriffs, good neighbors, Highway Patrol, the Missouri State Emergency Management Agency, Missouri Water patrol, Missouri National Guard, the Department of Natural Resources, Missouri Health and Human Services, the Department of Conservation, the Salvation Army, the American Red Cross, the Reynolds County Citizen Corps, the Missouri Department of Agriculture and MoDoT all initiated a swift response.  Even more importantly, all worked together, shared information and coordinated their efforts. 

 

In addition, I am once again proud of the number of Missourians who have stepped forward and offered their volunteer services in this time of crisis for others.  From the crisis to the cleanup, Reynolds County couldn’t ask for better neighbors.  Federal, state and local authorities have pitched in to aid the recovery and investigate the flood.  It is an enormous undertaking for a county of under 7,000. 

 

Reynolds County residents should know they are not alone in the aftermath of an unlikely situation they could barely anticipate.  All of us in Southern Missouri should recognize that, when it comes to floods, none of us is immune.”