CLARKSVILLE, Mo. — Despite days of rain, residents along the Mississippi are breathing sights of relief as the river slowly starts to recede.
After 16 years as the Mayor of Clarksville, Missouri, Jo Anne Smiley has learned she always has to keep one eye on the river.
“Last week it went up 4 feet,” Jo Anne Smiley said. “At that point there was a lot of nerves in town.”
Since 2008, the town of just 400 people has flooded at least 10 times.
“The first time when they told me it would take 3 million sandbags I was beyond belief,” Smiley said.
Instead of fighting the floodwaters, Smiley said many business owners simply decided to flee for higher ground.
“If you’re in a building, and 3 feet from you is a sandbag wall that is holding back the Mississippi River, you’ve got to be pretty concerned about will it hold or not,” Smiley said.
Thanks to $14 million in state and federal funding flooding could soon be a thing of the past in the Pike County community thanks to a new, removable wall.
“This particular project takes the water that comes down off the hills and drains it towards the post office,” Smiley said. “They have a facility there where we’ll put pumps. As the storm water comes in we’ll put it back over the wall.”
Since construction started a year ago, Smiley said the town has already seen a return on its investment.
“We have a million-dollar candle building that was built,” Smiley said. “They’re making candles. Out of growth of that is a leather factory that is already up and operating and doing well. I think there will be people that look at this and see it as an answer.”
If all goes to plan work on the flood wall will be finished by spring of 2025.
Mayor Smiley says work along N. 1st Street along the riverfront will be finished as soon as next week.