By STEVE EIGHINGER
Herald-Whig Staff Writer
Nancy Schaller remembers the flood of 1993 all too well.
"We got a call to leave work, go home and change clothes and come back and fill sandbags," said Schaller, one of dozens of Gardner Denver employees volunteering Wednesday to fill some of those same kind of sandbags in preparation to combat what might be headed Quincy's way.
The Mississippi River is expected to crest at 29.9 feet by next Wednesday in Quincy, which would be worse than the 2001 flood and would threaten the 32.13 level of the 1993 disaster that saw much of the nation glued to television sets watching the region's daily battles with rising water and continuous rains.
"Together, we beat the flood '93," Schaller said. "And we're here to do the same thing. Hopefully, it won't be as bad as is being predicted."
The National Weather Service is calling for rain today and Friday. If that forecast pans out, coupled with expected rains up north, an unwanted recipe for uneasiness could be the result in much of West-Central Illinois and Northeast Missouri.
In La Grange, Mo., City Administrator Mark Campbell said 20,000 sandbags have been brought in to help the community try and stave off the river. La Grange is not protected by a levee. If the flood crests nearly 12 feet above flood stage as predicted, the homes of about 40 residents will be affected, and several downtown businesses will be forced to close or temporarily relocate.
Shelters may be set up at churches or at Culver-Stockton College in nearby Canton, Campbell said. U.S. 61 that runs through town is expected to close on Saturday.
"People know it's coming," Campbell said. "With this one, they're taking it more seriously."
Flood stage in Quincy is considered to be 17 feet. This morning's reading was 20.28.
Schaller, wearing a T-shirt that proclaims "We Beat the Flood of '93," says she mirrors her fellow Gardner Denver employees.
"We'll do whatever we can to help save the company (from the river)," she said. "This is kind of a way of life here."
Gardner Denver had multiple sandbagging sites in operation Wednesday with a small army of volunteers shoveling, bagging and transporting.
The plant sits on the east shore of the river and Mark Chiado, director of safety and environmental control, said the company has a comprehensive flood plan of action, depending on the various river levels.
"We're expecting this to be worse than 2001, but not as bad as 1993," he said
Chiado said Gardner Denver is no different than other businesses, residences and various sites along the river.
"We're at the mercy of what happens up (north) and how much it rains," he said.
Employees Damon Holton and Mike Hummert were working together filling sandbags.
"I was still in high school in 1993, so I don't remember a lot about that," Holton said.
Hummert remembers both 1993 and 2001 and feels the community as a whole has a different approach to this pending flood.
"There does not seem to be the same kind of urgency as before," Hummert said. "There seems to be more planning ahead this time."
John Simon, director of the Adams County Emergency Management Agency, has been coordinating a sandbagging operation at the Shaffer farm along the Ursa blacktop, just west of North Bottom Road.
That operation is designed to aid local drainage districts prepare for the oncoming water.
"We need help," Simon said. "We need people to come out."
The operation ran Wednesday until dusk and was scheduled to resume early this morning.
Simon said if individuals or groups are interested in filling sandbags do not even bother calling the Emergency Management Agency office at (217) 277-2005. There won't be anyone there to answer the phone.
"Just come on out," he said. "All of our staff is in the field."
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
-- seighinger@whig.com/221-3377
