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CAT Tracks for May 12, 2011
MOVING (BACK IN) DAY |
From the WPSD TV Channel 6 Website...
Thousands move back to Cairo
Reporter - Jason Hibbs
Story Created: May 11, 2011 at 9:03 PM CDT
CAIRO, Ill. — "By the grace of God we made it," those words from a mayor who's town could have been wiped off the map by during the flood of 2011.
The threat of a catastrophic levee breach prompted Mayor Tyrone Coleman to issue a mandatory evacuation order almost two weeks ago for Cairo, Illinois.
On May 11, businesses and neighbors got the all clear to go home.
Lots of folks are asking why it took so long but with so much pressure on the city's levee system and the sand boils and sink holes in the area, the mayor insists the city was not safe until now. Families say it's about time.
When the 73-year-old grandfather of the Whitaker family backs into the right spot, his kids and grandkids start unloading the stuff they moved out and took to Cape Giradeau, Missouri, two weeks ago.
"Now we done pack the stuff there and put in four to five different places," Jeffrey Whitaker said. "Now we got to pack it all back in the house."
Whitaker is tired of messing with this furniture.
"It was a big pain to me, especially when it didn't flood. Now you gotta move all the stuff back in."
He said the last two weeks have been hectic and hard.
"A lot of hard work. A lot of money spent that we didn't have to spend." Whitaker explained.
"Every decision that's been made has been based on facts not opinions. Not ideas, simply fact," Mayor Tyrone Coleman insisted.
He said the mandatory of evacuation of the entire city, nearly 3,000 people, was in everyone's best interest and could have been life-saving.
An empty room is now inside city hall where the emergency command center was set up.
"I noticed a period of quiet in the building and I walked back and I'm like, 'Man, we've made it,'" Coleman said.
Outside, cars are back on the roads and stores like SuperValu Foods are re-stocking their shelves.
Gutterman Motors have trucks back on their lot. The mayor said just about every business is excited to open up tomorrow morning.
Every business except for one type.
"No sale of alcoholic beverages within the city," the mayor said.
That's through next week and there's a curfew for late-night drivers.
Jeffrey Whitaker doesn't have time to worry about that right now. He's just glad he and his family are back where they belong.
"I like being at home," he said.
Folks are allowed back in but there's a new curfew for everyone. No one allowed on the roads from 8 p.m. to 6 a.m. That's until next Tuesday, May 17. There are exceptions for those who are traveling for work and emergencies.
There are still sections of Cairo that are unsafe. Those areas are restricted at all times.
The mayor said if folks are caught joy-riding after hours or if bars are caught selling alcohol, they'll be fined.
From the KFVS TV Channel 12 Website...
Cairo evacuation order lifted, curfew still in place
Posted: May 11, 2011 1:29 PM CDT
By Christy Hendricks
CAIRO, IL (KFVS) - The mandatory evacuation order in Cairo was lifted Wednesday afternoon.
Mayor Tyrone Coleman says residents can return to Cairo and are asked to be responsive to any emergency personnel still in the city.
People are asked to avoid the areas that have been marked with either barricades or red tape as those areas are still not safe to the public.
The curfew between 8 p.m. and 6 a.m. for the city is still in effect until 6 a.m. on Tuesday, May 17.
No alcoholic beverages will be sold during this time by anyone within the city as long as the curfew is in effect.
Residents are urged to report any problems that may still arise from the flooding and high waters.
The Mississippi River levee is still closed to traffic and no one except emergency personnel are allowed on the Ohio River levee.
Businesses are allowed to resume normal hours on Thursday, May 12, with the exception of those selling alcoholic beverages.
Although it's still limited, people couldn't agree enough on one thing.
"It feel good to be at home," said Cairo resident Chaquita Brinson.
"I'm happy to be back," said Cairo resident Maurice.
"It's good to be home, very good to be home," said Kay Johnson, another Cairo resident.
Time and time again, people who had just moved back into town said they were happy to be back.
"We're glad to be able to say that they can come home," said Mayor Tyrone Coleman.
Coleman says the decision on when it was safe enough for people to return wasn't easy, but says it was based on the river levels.
"To make the decisions we made, based on fact, not on feelings, not on emotions, not on opinions," said Coleman.
But those emotions were running high today as people reunited with friends and neighbors.
"Everybody get back together and have fun like we used to do," said Maurice.
"It feels great to be home, I'm just happy to be home, back where my real friends at," said Brinson.
Now people around town say they are gearing up for next week to go back to school, work, and a regular routine.
"We're going to get back to normal, well hopefully," said Johnson.
From the Southeast Missourian...
Cairo residents allowed back in as mayor lifts evacuation order
Thursday, May 12, 2011
By Erin Hevern ~ Southeast Missourian
CAIRO, Ill. -- For one Cairo woman, Mayor Tyrone Coleman's announcement Wednesday lifting a mandatory evacuation order came at an ideal time.
Cathe Wisniewski had spent more than a week living in a Carbondale, Ill., hotel and was about to check out and into an American Red Cross shelter in Ullin, Ill., when she heard the news from her ex-husband.
"It was so well-timed, the city opening up. I just ran out of money in regards to staying in a hotel," she said after carrying in a load of clothes from her car into her 10th Street home.
Her home was in the same shape as it was when she left, said Wisniewski, who left only when then-Mayor Judson Childs put in place a mandatory evacuation May 1.
"There's been no flooding in here as far as I can tell," she said.
Mayor Tyrone Coleman -- sworn into office May 2 -- knows while everyone may have not been as fortunate as Wisniewski, the city got lucky. The Ohio River got as high as 61.72 feet last week, hours before the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers breached a levee in Southeast Missouri in order to reduce pressure on flood works along the Ohio and the Mississippi rivers.
He kept the evacuation order in place so long, Coleman said, to keep residents safe. Sand boils and sinkholes, associated with the massive pressure on the city's flood-control system, had been seen.
About 100 people, not including emergency personnel and law enforcement officers, stayed in Cairo while the order was in place.
Coleman decision Wednesday, he said, was based on predictions from the corps and from Illinois emergency management on what the river would do this week. Before the first blast at the Birds Point levee, the corps anticipated the Ohio River level at Cairo to drop up to four feet. At 8 p.m. Wednesday, the Ohio River was at 57.03 feet.
"By the morning, it's forecast to be in the 56-foot range. This community has experienced these levels of water around us twice a 10-year-period," Coleman said. "It's safe, but residents need to be observant to areas of the town that are still barricaded and roped off."
Other residents returning to their homes Wednesday -- and some days before -- found out they weren't as lucky. A.C. Cleaves, 77, found his basement flooded, leaving important possessions destroyed.
"Everything down there has to be thrown away," said Cleaves, who stored a variety of antiques in the basement of his home on the corner of Edgewood Park and Washington Avenue.
Cleaves left Cairo when Childs put in place a voluntary evacuation, days before anyone else left the city. The mayor, he said, told him it was safe to come back.
"I got back around 12 p.m. yesterday," Cleaves said. "I went to Perryville, to my daughter's. I didn't see any water there."
Despite law enforcement from around the state monitoring entry into Cairo, like Cleaves, 22-year-old Danyella Nelson and her 1-year-old daughter, Jahniyah Hughes, came back to their apartment Sunday before Coleman lifted the evacuation order.
Nelson added that she wasn't nervous about the conditions in the city when she left, she just wanted to be somewhere safer. Her apartment is dry and nothing was destroyed.
Coleman said some residents were back in the city earlier than others because they chose not to leave after he allowed them back for a few hours Friday to check on their homes.
"People did people things. Once they were in, we couldn't force them to leave," he said.
Coleman added that if they had been seen in public places, however, or found breaking a curfew he put in place this week, they would have been cited. From 8 p.m. to 6 a.m. no one except emergency personnel may be on the city streets, and businesses, which can open today, must close by 8 p.m. No alcohol sales will be allowed in the city until the curfew expires Tuesday.
Crime has been low, according to Coleman, and only two possible home break-ins were reported Tuesday.
Coleman said he's asking residents to respect the curfew as well as any emergency personnel. "Also everyone should avoid areas that have been marked with either barricades or red tape. They're still not safe to the public," Coleman added.
Classes will resume in the Cairo School District today, and in a news release at Cairo City Hall, district personnel urged staff to contact their building principal for adjusted schedules for all school activities.
CAT Tracks Editor's Note:
About the final paragraph in the article above...stating that "Classes will resume in the Cairo School District today..."
DO NOT PANIC!
I would ass-u-me that that information is incorrect and a result of miscommunication between city and district officials and/or the media.
Then, again, I can do that...I don't work there anymore, there are no consequences for me.
Since it is 4 a.m. as I type this, I am unable to contact anyone "in the know" to verify the status of school today. (Trust me...there are not enough students in Cairo to have school today! I mean...the ban was not lifted until 3 p.m. yesterday...)
If/when I hear something different, I will post it. (SEE UPDATE BELOW!)
If you are an early riser/reader, you might call school to see what they have heard. If no one answers the phone, you might ass-u-me that that confirms the later start...for employees only. If someone answers the phone, ask them "What the hell is going on?"...in a more polite way, of course!!!
Bottom Line:
If school were resuming today, the announcement should have been all over the news last night for the parents and students (and you as a member of the public) to hear. (I don't watch the news, so I don't have a clue!)
Also, as an employee of a school district which has been closed for almost two weeks, you should have received a telephone call by way of the school emergency phone tree that school was resuming.
If neither of the above happened, then it is probably safe to ass-u-me that you are to report to work TODAY (Thursday, May 12th) at 10 a.m. to begin two "staff days"...which was the official word after Monday's District meeting.
I apologize for the "iffiness' of this report. I'm doing the best I can with what I get...
UPDATE: (Posted at 7:45 a.m. on Thursday, May 12th)
Okay: I got into my car at 7:30 a.m. this morning and drove to the bus garage...there are no buses in town. I drove by Cairo Elementary...it is shuttered with no cars...a sign on the door says "NO SCHOOL".
In short...
CSD #1 Employees: Stick with "PLAN A"...report to your building at 10 a.m. and await further instruction.
NO STUDENTS THURSDAY.
Photojournalist - Mason Watkins
(Story Updated: May 11, 2011 at 10:17 PM CDT)
Updated: May 11, 2011 10:07 PM CDT
