Plain Troubles:FEMA regulations hamstring homes, businesses on Union County's Mississippi River flood plain

WOLF LAKE - Residents and business owners in Wolf Lake can't help but think they are going to be handed the muddy end of the stick before too long.

As the Union County Board of Commissioners carefully approaches the subject of possible flood plain encroachments in various areas of the county, people in the Mississippi River bottoms community feel a sense of dread that increased enforcement of Federal Emergency Management Agency guidelines means their homes and livelihoods are threatened.

David Livesay is a deputy sergeant with the Union County Sheriff's Department. He is also a resident of Wolf Lake. He owns a home. He pays property taxes. He pays home insurance, along with a separate flood insurance policy because his house is built in the flood plain.

For years, Livesay has lived with the knowledge a big flood could do damage to his house, but it is a fact of life many of the region's farmers and residents accept. He said it is much the same as the folks who build million-dollar homes into the unstable cliffs in California and the people who live along the coasts in Florida during hurricane season. Natural disasters can happen.

"Nobody down here wants to break the rules," he said. "We're just trying to live and get by. Now FEMA is talking that we can't so much as put up a machine shed to protect the farm equipment."

Increasing FEMA flood plain program guidelines, rules by which county governments and citizens must abide to qualify for emergency relief funds in the event of a disaster, now keep all but the smallest of buildings from being erected on land that could potentially flood.

The guidelines go so far to say if a house in the flood plain burns down, the homeowner isn't allowed to build it back without following the updated stringent rules, Livesay said.

Members of the county board for years have avoided discussing the problems existing on the flood plain. Current commissioners, Bill Jackson, Jack Eddleman and John Garner, admit the situation is one everyone wants to tread into lightly but one that almost inevitably will anger many people.

Jerry Schaefer, owner of Schaefer Enterprises, a worldwide parts dealer in Wolf Lake, said the county is in a bind when it comes to FEMA rules.

"The county government is in a very unenviable position in that they are faced with federal rules that if they follow may be detrimental to a lot of residents in the county," Schaefer said.

Schaefer's business employs 45 people from the local area, he said. He has always been able to do business largely unhindered, except for the fact he is not free to physically expand his operations because of flood plain rules.

He said if the county becomes stricter on the guidelines, it could only make matters worse for business.

"Already, if they enforce the rules it will prevent any economic growth from taking place," Schaefer said.

David McMahan, who farms roughly 1,000 acres of land in the Wolf Lake region, said in 44 years he hasn't seen any growth in the community.

It's not surprising to him. McMahan said he can't even build himself a new house.

"If I did I'd have to raise it 15 feet into the air," he said.

Houses on stilts is a ridiculous proposition to many in Wolf Lake, especially to McMahan, who said Union County wouldn't be threatened with FEMA violations if it had more political representation.

"We don't have enough representatives; per square mile we don't have any people," McMahan said.

McMahan fears if the county board goes on its own in enforcement, it will make residents angry, possibly causing them to pay their property taxes under protest.

Livesay said it could be disastrous to Union County.

"The major portion of the tax that comes from the county comes from the farms in the flood plain and the business down here," Livesay said.

The flood plain of Union County, it turns out, houses one of the county's largest employers, Dyno Nobel, Inc., a mining explosives manufacturer that employs about 220 people.

Site manager James Boyer said the Wolf Lake location holds 23 main buildings, most of which they believe sit high enough on the plain to avoid major water damage in the event of a flood.

"Back in 1997 we did some analysis of what might happen if the levee broke," Boyer said. "What we found is we would be dry. You probably couldn't get to us, because the roads would be covered, but our buildings and equipment would be dry."

Dyno Nobel is self-insured, Boyer said, and he isn't sure the plant even qualifies for FEMA assistance. He also isn't sure exactly how an increased enforcement of the flood plain rules might affect business at the plant.

Boyer said he will be in contact with the county board as the discussion continues. Chances are most people in Wolf Lake will have something to say before the issue is closed.

caleb.hale@thesouthern.com

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