River Rises, Prison Inmates Help Sandbag

One Eureka tributary is starting to look like churning, liquid milk chocolate as The Meramec River definitely splashed  over its banks today.

At 4:21 p.m. this afternoon, National Weather Service officials issued a hazardous weather outlook for St. Louis County, including Eureka and Wildwood.  Experts indicate that thunderstorms expected in the state late this evening and after midnight may bring heavy rain, which will lead to additional flash flooding.

They ask weather spotters to relay all flooding reports, along with any observed rainfall of greater than 1 inch to the National Weather Service staff in St. Louis.

Having experience with flooding, Eureka leaders began filling sandbags a month or more ago.

Eureka Police Chief Michael Wiegand said inmates within the walls of the Missouri Eastern Correctional Center in nearby Pacific, MO, started making sandbags in March for possible spring flooding. He said city representatives drop off sand, pallets and sandbags at the prison, then the prisoners fill them.

"We stockpiled the sandbags so they can be distributed immediately to our residents if needed," said Wiegand.

He said the partnership with prison offenders began in 2008 when inmates assisted in removing sandbags from low-lying residential areas. "Many people do not know that during an emergency, the resources and manpower offered by prisons can be an indispensable asset to surrounding communities."

Wiegand said he picked up a couple hundred McDonald's meals for the offenders who previously helped with sandbags. "Some of those 50 to 80 guys hadn't had a McDonald's burger in six years," he said.

He said the idea of having inmates pitch in is not new, and that it is a "win-win situation because prisoners feel good about contributing to the community, and the community benefits."