St. Charles Residents Clean Up From Flash Floods

Linda and Dale Spaulding bought their split-level home at the corner of Runnymeade and Cole Boulevard in 1972. The house backs up to Cole Creek.

Since then, they've only had water in their lower level once after the remnants of Hurricane Ike dumped rain on the area in September 2008.

On early Sunday morning, four feet of water surged into their living room, destroying their computer and scanner. Their belongings floated like bobbers in the center of the room.

By Monday afternoon, the Spauldings had piled dozens of black trash bags, water-logged chairs and ruined furniture on the curb.

"The only thing we can control is our attitude," Linda Spaulding said. "We can laugh or cry. You'd better laugh and pick up something and take it to the curb."

The Spauldings were among dozens of home owners in St. Charles that were affected by flash flooding Saturday night and into Sunday morning. According to the National Weather Service, between two and four inches of rain fell on the St. Louis area.

Now residents are cleaning up the mess and asking questions of the city about why it happened. Members of the city's community development division are going to the affected properties.

"We know our citizens have been impacted by the flash flood," said Michael Spurgeon, director of administration in a press release. "And at this point, we are identifying areas impacted by water," he said. 

The city activated an Emergency Operations Center at the . Residents can call a hotline for more information on street closures, recovery plans and shelter information at 636-255-6153. 

Spaulding wonders whether the city's construction of Cole Creek may have had an impact on their house. She's not sure whether she and her husband will be able to move back into the house. Spaulding said she'd be happy to move if their home qualifies for a federal buyout.

"I can't do this again," she said. "This is the second time. I'm just tired."

Chris Jones, who lives across Runnymeade from the Spauldings, said his neighbors woke him up around 2 a.m. Sunday and he saw his house was encircled with water and the finished basement was filling up.

"Half of my belongings are ruined," he said.

Jones and his wife, Andrea Jones, waded through the water with their baby to reach their neighbor's house, which had very little water inside.

Many of the homes that back up to the creek had boxes or bags piled at the curb. Waterlogged rolls of carpeting were stacked besides trashbags filled with belongings at houses on Shelburne.

The 80-unit Cole Creek apartment complex was condemned after water filled many of the ground-level apartments. Several residents were still packing up on Monday afternoon. Inside, the carpet was still soggy, the walls covered in mud.

Scott Smith's home theater business, SCI Media Solutions, is located on the lower level of a building on Boone's Lick Drive. Sunday morning, the water rushed in, ripping down a door and punching a hole in the drywall. The water line rose high enough to ruin several speakers, a sound bar and leave the walls soaked.s

Smith said he couldn't bring himself to look at the damage Sunday. His father flew up from Florida to help him clean up on Monday.

In seven years at that location, he said he'd never seen water in his business, which backs up to Mark Twain Mall. He has questions about whether construction near the business might have had an impact.

"I'm hoping the city will help me out a little bit," he said. "I'll have to put it back together but with the economy the way it is, it's going to be some time without any help."

In the Southern Oaks neighborhood, Shirley Uhlenbrock, stood outside her house as her son helped set up a new shelf for her garage Monday. About 12 houses in the neighborhood were flooded Sunday morning, getting anywhere from four feet to two inches of water.

Uhlenbrock, who moved in just three weeks ago, said the water flowed across Fifth Street and into her lower level. She had about four inches of water in her carpeted basement.

"It was like a big wall and boy, it came in," she said.

She said she awoke to sounds of someone calling for help. A man had been trapped on top of his car which was caught in waters on Fifth Street. 

Fire fighters rescued a number of people trapped on top of cars by the rising water.

"It was a busy day, a busy night," said one city fire fighter.