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Voluntary evacuation as Old Shawneetown eyes water runoff

Posted April 24, 2011 11:00 pm

Terry Geese

</element><element id="paragraph-1" type="body"><![CDATA[Keeping an eye on rising waters from runoff into his town, Old Shawneetown Village Manager Lawrence Randall on Sunday called for a voluntary evacuation of the community.

Randall said the Shawneetown Levee is intact and is functioning as it is supposed to. The problem right now is the accumulation of water running off Gallatin County farmland above the community. About 1,100 acres drains into Old Shawneetown, he said. That area, saturated for weeks, produces millions of gallons of runoff with an inch of rain - as much as 24 million gallons, Randall said.

Old Shawneetown's pumps simply can't keep pace, he said.

Old Shawneetown operates five community-owned pumps and the town is using one pump provided by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

The city pumps have a maximum capacity of 45,000 to 50,000 gallons a minute and the Corps of Engineer's pump adds another 6,000 to 7,000 gallons a minute to the pumping capacity.

When the periodic rains of the past few days drain from 1,100 acres, that's simply not enough capacity, Randall said.

The pumps - expensive to run as there is no electricity to the pumping station and Shawneetown must provide generators for power - have been running for more than a week. Prior to that, they were operating for an extended period of time several weeks ago, Randall said.

The possibility of getting any financial assistance is slim. "It is a roll of the dice if anyone can get disaster money," Randall said.

The slow rise of water in the community already has surrounded some residences. One resident placed a measuring stick in a ditch of runoff and learned the water had risen 4 inches in each of two 12-hour periods of time.

While some residents were attempting Easter Sunday barbecues between rains, others were packing for moving.

Among the ones who are leaving town are Randall's wife and daughter. His wife, Betty, said her husband's concern about rising water has worried her. She is leaving to stay with relatives in Equality. Randall's daughter, Astra, will cross the river to stay with her boyfriend's family in Kentucky.

Up the road at the Hideaway, bar owner Mark Simpson was working with a crew clearing out the nightspot.

The last time Old Shawneetown flooded, the water came up so fast he was unable to make the move.

By mid-afternoon Sunday, the bar was surrounded by water and the packing had been completed.

Randall said high water is nothing new for most residents of the community. They have lived with that threat for most of their lives.

He was comforted that the Corps of Engineers has lowered the expected crest of the river.

Now, the potential for more rain is his big concern.

There are no real surprises to the flooding, Randall said. "Everybody who lives here knows it is going to flood," he said.

Reflecting on the history of the community, he wondered if the original settlers weren't a bit smarter - they often built their Shawneetown homes with the living quarters at a second-story level rather than on the ground level.

While water from the fields north of town is the immediate concern, the Ohio River is still high and rising. The river was measured at 46.16 feet at 6:30 a.m. Flood stage is 33 feet, according to the National Weather Service in Paducah, Ky. The river is expected to crest - for now -- at 53.5 feet on May 2. At 52 feet, several rural roads and houses are isolated in eastern Gallatin County, according to the NWS.

The highest crest on record at Old Shawneetown is 65.64, achiveved in the 1937 Flood.

Down river at Golconda, the Ohio River was 48.55 feet at 8 a.m. Flood stage is 40 feet. The river is projected to crest at Golconda at 52.3 feet on May 2. Golconda begins to close the flood wall when the river reaches 55.6 feet, according to the NWS Internet site.

The highest crest on record at Golconda is 62.60 feet during the 1937 Flood. The river reached 53.58 feet on March 12, 1997.

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