Flood forum planned Wednesday in Quincy

This summer’s flood wasn’t the greatest and probably wasn’t the most expensive.
But everyone from top economists to displaced homeowners knows the high water carried a big cost.
The price tag, and ways to minimize it the next time rivers rise, is the focus of a forum WednesdayFlood .
The free event is from 1 to 4 p.m. in the Quincy University Hall of Fame Room inside Pepsi Arena at 20th and Oak.
The moderator will be Chuck Scholz, who as mayor of Quincy, Ill., oversaw flood-fighting efforts for that community in 1993.
Scholz said flood-control projects completed in the last 15 years helped cut the cost of this year’s flood, and that further investment will reduce the damage of future disasters.
“The benefits far outweigh the costs,” Scholz said. “Now’s the chance, while you have the national attention focused on it, to put together a coalition to get something done.”
Economic data still is being compiled, but many agree the damage of 2008 wasn’t as significant as that resulting from the record flooding of 1993.
First, the 2008 disaster didn’t last as long. Second, fewer counties were impacted this year.
“I don’t think it was anywhere near as costly,” said panelist Jim Mentesti of the Great River Economic Development Foundation.
Rick Mattoon, a senior economist with the Federal Reserve Bank in Chicago, wrote an analysis in July that compared the 2008 and 1993 floods.
In a telephone interview, Mattoon said that in addition to a reduction in geographic area and length of duration, the “better preparation” mentioned by Scholz was a key to minimizing the economic blow of this year’s flood.
Mattoon looked at the impact on employment, industry, agriculture, construction, transportation and other parts of the economy.
“The 2008 flood may seem to be milder in its overall economic impact on the larger region and the nation, but it is just as devastating for those who have suffered it as it was for those in previous floodings,” Mattoon wrote in July.
Bill Smith of the Lewis County Industrial Development Authority said it’s too early to tell much about the full impact because of unknown factors such as crop harvests and rebuilding costs.
“I think you’re still looking at a considerable time before we’re, quote, ‘back to normal,’” Smith said. “It’s a wait-and-see thing.”
In the end, Mattoon said, “the damage to the region’s economy will in large part depend on who pays for the rebuilding.”
If the federal government and insurance companies pay for most of the damage and do it promptly, a region “can conceptually restore output and even increase its levels of economic growth,” Mattoon writes.
But if things happen this year the way they did in 1993, he said the more likely scenario is that “the region will absorb a significant share of the disaster-related cost.”
Other topics to be discussed at the forum include the Mississippi River’s levee system and its locks and dams.
U.S. Sen. Richard Durbin, D-Ill., will discuss the impact of the Water Resource Development Act, which authorized flood-control, navigation and environmental projects by the Army Corps of Engineers.
For information, call Quincy University at (217) 228-5275 or log on to www.quincy.edu.