St. Louis Post-Dispatch from St. Louis, Missouri • Page 1

Sweetness loins EVERYDAY Summer Movies 3D MAGAZINE SLU's Father Fitzgerald 6pd Undermining Both Sides The real cost of the coal strike will be figured not only in forgone wages butalso in lost customers. BUSINESS IE all Of Fame Former Chicago Bears star Walter Payton embraces his son Jarrett, 12, who introduced his father as an inductee into the Pro Football Hall of Fame on Saturday SPORTS IF STYLE PLUS Men's Fashions: Basics Are Back is 0 SUNDAY, AUGUST 1, 1993 VOL. 1 1 5, NO. 21 3 Copyright 1 993 (6) FINAL 5-STAR mm i IjwSK- 1 "I -v. j.

Larry WilliamsPost-Dispatch faces Chesterfield Airport Road. 1 V-r i 1 1 I An aerial view showing widespread flooding Saturday in an industrial area in Chesterfield Bottoms. Cffo 1" Menace Rises As Monday's Crest Looms By Virgil Tipton Of the Post-Dispatch Staff The Mississippi and Missouri rivers savaged the St. Louis area from one end to the other Saturday. Their water poured raw sewage past a wealthy corner of St.

Louis County, threatened to release clouds of explosive propane over south St. Louis and swallowed high-tech businesses in Chesterfield. The rivers covered homes, businesses and streets once considered untouchable. The Missouri drowned the rich corridor of Highway 40 under 6 feet of water, closed a county water plant and swamped a sewage treatment plant that serves 75,000 homes. The Mississippi shoved more backwater into the River Des Peres, poking leak after leak in the ever-weakening levee protecting 1,000 homes.

A dike guarding a top-secret federal agency surrendered. The river mangled roads in Alton and covered a water plant in Grafton. In Bellefontaine Neighbors, the Mississippi filled Maline Creek and washed over sandbag barriers. "We're losing the battle," a police officer there said. Rivers kept four major bridges in the metropolitan area closed, meaning that the floods could snarl Monday's traffic into one of the worst traffic jams in St.

Louis history. As an added blow one that seemed almost bizarre three tornadoes crashed through St. Charles County in the late afternoon; two of them hit the flood-stricken towns of St. Peters and Portage des Sioux. They apparently did little damage.

The area seemd under a barrage. Radio stations carried reports from the north, the south, the west and the east of more levees breaking, more sandbags failing, more people fleeing. In groceries, residents packed shopping carts with bottled water, sometimes leaving a gallon or two behind for the next customer, sometimes not. Adding to the eerie atmosphere, television station helicopters buzzed through a darkening gray sky. On the ground, residents watched shaky live footage of police rescuing people from flooded buildings, of a building burning in the middle of the flooded Chesterfield bottoms, of boats zipping over highways.

The tension carried an edge of panic: The worst was yet to come. The Mississippi roared past St. Louis at 48.4 feet on Saturday, 18.4 feet above flood stage. The National Weather Service predicted the river would reach a crest a high point of 49.3 feet on Monday and would stay there for at least another day. A crest of 39 feet on the Missouri is expected to reach St.

Charles on Monday. As much as 47 percent of St. Charles County will be flooded when tHe crests collide at the confluence on Monday. So far, 10,000 people have See FLOODING, Page 11 Dispatch switch Walsh, yZf 500 Firms Inundated In Chesterfield By Martha Shirk Of the Post-Dispatch Staff The Missouri River transformed Chesterfield Bottoms into Chesterfield Lake on Saturday, shutting down hundreds of businesses and closing a major artery between St. Charles and St.

Louis counties. Murky, debris-laden floodwater inundated nearly 500 businesses and 20 homes in Chesterfield just south of U.S. Highway 40 (Interstate 64). The flooding of the 6-mile stretch of roadway forced the closing of the Daniel Boone Bridge over the Missouri. Among those displaced were 400 inmates from the Adult Correctional Institution and the Chesterfield police, whose station was flooded by at least 6 feet of dirty river water.

"This is a disaster," said Chesterfield Mayor Jack Leonard. "We've got a break in the levee that's 700 feet wide, and 485 businesses that are under at least 6 or 7 feet of water. Highway 40 is under 6 feet of water. And our farmers have suffered immeasurable losses." See BOTTOMS, Page 11 The building in the foreground Transportation Secretary Federico Pena threw the opening-day switch at noon at a ceremony at Union Station. In his remarks, Pena anticipated criticism heard for the past decade that the $351 million MetroLink will be a white elephant and that few people will ride it.

"What do I say to questions about whether we need light-rail systems? I say, 'Yes, and if you want to see a great one, go to St. Louis, and you'll see why we need Pena said. A long line of speech-makers promised that MetroLink would lead to economic development along its path to Lambert Field from East St. Louis and that it would reduce traffic See METROLINK, Page 6 1 i Thousands of people help sling sandbags. 7A i Town-by-town description of flooding 10A i What to expect on roads and bridges 11 A i Memories: A reporter revisits her flooded childhood farm 12A i St.

Charles: The Missouri River approaches 500-year flood levels. 12A i Jefferson County: Some residents build levees. Some move out 13A i Propane: Divers work to release tanks holding explosive propane 14A i Canton, The town that beat the flood. 15A i Religious leaders: Why does God allow suffering? IB i Hurricane Andrew victims tell Midwesterners: recovery begins with a resolve to fight 4B i Politicians predict quick action by the Senate on flood-aid. 6B i Sandbagging: A reporter describes working on a levee 6B Flood victims wait out the water ID Trailer parks once again are among hardest-hit IE WEATHER Chance Of Storms FORECAST Sunday Partly cloudy with a chance of a morning storm.

High 88. Low 71. Monday Mostly sunny. High 86. Other Weather, 8B Deep.

fairvTBcr POST-DISPATCH WEATHERBIHD wkq pat orr. 09 7 100' 111 3 Larry WilliamsPost-Dispatch Two planes, inoperable and used to salvage parts, floating Saturday into a tree at Spirit of St. Louis Airport. Area Riders Throng To Try MetroLink But Problems Will Persist After Free Rides fX rrrv J. V- f'i jv 1 1 iiiiimimil INDEX ArtsEntertainment Automotive 39G Business 1-8E Classified 1-60G Movie Timetable 15D News Analysis 1B.4B Obituaries 13C Reviews 5D St.

Louis 1-14C Sports 1-14F Style Plus 1-6S Travel 1-6T EDITORIAL PAGE The Best That Can Be Done The Legacy Of Cliff Cave 2B By Fred W. Lindecke Of the Post-Dispatch Staff It took 10 years to get the money to pay for it and three years to build it, but Saturday in a volley of air bombs MetroLink was off and running. Thousands of riders jammed the trains for free rides on opening day. They came from throughout the St. Louis area, finding out for themselves what the new light-rail system is all about and learning how commuters hustle for a seat and hang from hand grips every working day in New York and other cities.

MetroLink still has some trouble spots, but everything was upbeat as Gary BohnPost- Bi-State employee Dale Harris wiping off a toy electrical used to launch MetroLink symbolically Saturday. Steve Harris' supervisor, is in the background. 1 -Ri.