LOOKING BACK is a Leader online feature that highlights historic photos. Readers are invited to submit their historic Jefferson County photos for online publication.
Jefferson County, along with much of the Midwest, is caught in the middle of a stifling, record-breaking heat wave, with temperatures daily hitting triple digits.
It seems like a good time to look back and remember that things can always be worse.
Take, for instance, the summer of 1993, when flooding from the winter thaw and spring storms along the upper Mississippi and Missouri rivers wound its way downsteam and settled into the Twin Cities around Memorial Day. And once the flood settled in, it looked as if it set up for an extended stay. School was back in session before the water receded and cleanups were completed.
And the flooding just didn’t affect the intersection of Bailey and Truman Boulevard, as shown in this photo that looks north, an aerial shot taken by Witte Photography. Parts of Arnold and Springdale areas also were seriously inundated, but pretty much any area in the county near a river or creek experienced some problems.
Even though it may not have been as hot that summer, why quibble over a few degrees? After all, when you’re filling and stacking sandbags, it’s an arduous task, whether the mercury hits 95 degrees or 105 degrees.
To be sure, this summer’s heat wave is taking its toll on farmers, gardeners and certain businesses, but the lesson that we should learn from the flood of 1993 (and its cousin in 1995 as well as others from summers past), is that Jefferson County will band together and bounce back, better than ever, from the experience.
Send submissions (or if you have any information on this photo) to LOOKING BACK at nvrweakly@aol.com or bring or mail them to the Leader office, 503 N. Second St., Festus (P.O. Box 159, 63028). Please include your name, phone number, a brief description of what’s in the photo and tell us how you came by it. Please also include when it was taken, where and by whom (if known). A new LOOKING BACK photo is posted each Thursday.
– Steve Taylor
