The river levels on the Mississippi River, near Clarksville, Missouri have dropped a bit. IPR's Amanda Vinicky reports.
It's almost an ironic invitation. A gateway to the riverfront public park, at the edge of Clarksville's downtown, reads "touch the Mississippi."
Usually, that requires stopping, and walking down some steps. Not now. The water laps up one of downtown's main drags. Though the water's receding, it's still nearly ten feet about flood stage.
It appears the stores and few homes in the flood plain have escaped relatively unscathed even though the city council voted to put no money toward a flood defense.
After $400,000 in flood expenses last year, the city decided it couldn't afford to do it again.
Instead, shop owners and volunteers like Mike Greenwell built a wall, using concrete barricades and wooden panels.
"You know, saving the town, that's what we do. We've been fixing it up for 25 years, we can't watch it flood. You know .. that's what we did here on Front street here. They said it was unproven. well, everything is unproven until the first time you do it.
But the worst isn't necessarily over; Greenwell says in many ways clean-up is worse than the flood itself.
