Flood debris surfaces as river levels drop

Now comes the cleanup.
Cities up and down the Mississippi River can count on spending time and money to pick up after nature’s wrath.
Hannibal is anxious to remove its floodgates. Not only because vehicle access has been cut off since April 27, but because crews want to start removing debris.
“There’s a certain amount of mess we’ve got to get cleaned up,” said John Hark, the city’s emergency management director. “As soon as we can open the gates, we’ll get it taken care of.”
Gates at Broadway and on South Main are scheduled to come out at 9 a.m. Monday as long as water levels continue to drop. The barriers at Hill and Center streets will be removed later.
Debris already is piling up at Canton’s Mississippi Park, which offers a view of Lock and Dam 20 and the Illinois shoreline. Like Hannibal, Canton is protected by a levee.
“It’s going to be an extensive cleanup,” said George Hausdorf, Canton’s public works director. “There’s a lot of driftwood.”
Most likely, Hausdorf said, larger pieces of driftwood will simply be dumped back into the river. The rest will be taken to the city’s yard waste site.
Clarksville’s Riverfront Park is drying out, but the parking lot still is flooded.
“There are downed trees and all kinds of debris that will have to be moved,” said Clarksville Mayor Jo Anne Smiley.
Stephen St. Clair of the Marion County Health Department urges people to use common sense when picking up the left-behinds.
“Just be careful,” said St. Clair, the department’s environmental public health specialist. “Make sure you’ve got your tetanus shot up to date.”
St. Clair said some things that get wet aren’t worth saving and others are hard to clean, especially wood, sheet rock and insulation that’s prone to mold.
“It’s pretty hard to sanitize those,” he said.
Avoid floodwaters if you have an open wound and be sure to wear protective clothing and shoes, St. Clair advises.
Most health departments have pamphlets on ways to clean up after high water goes down. In Marion County, people can call 221-1166 to find out more.