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Sandbagging continues in Arnold

Sandbagging crew at Arnold City Park
(KWMU-Adam Allington)
Sandbagging crew at Arnold City Park

By Adam Allington, KWMU

Arnold, MO – The National Weather Service is lowering crest predictions on the Mississippi River in St. Louis.

However emergency sandbagging is still necessary to protect some homes in the town of Arnold on the Meramec River.

Last March, when the Meramec spilled across Arnold City Park, Bob Turner built a six-foot sandbag wall to protect his house.

He just had the sandbags removed after people started to complain.

"Two weeks ago we just took them down and they've been up here for six months," says Turner. "Hurricane Ike is what caused the water to come back up its very frustrating."

Greg Hall, with the City of Arnold says things would be much worse right now if the city hadn't participated in a flood buyout in the wake of the 1993 Flood.

"Our flood buyout's paid for itself already, just in the last 10-15 years," says Hall.

With the assistance of the federal government Arnold purchased some 500 homes, turning the low-lying properties into parks.

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