When flood water goes away, so do years of residents’ lives|[04/30/08]

Published 12:00 am Wednesday, April 30, 2008

Twenty-six-year-old Sonja Moore doesn’t have a single photo of herself as a child. When she drives past the homes she was reared in, there’s not even a concrete slab remaining. None of her friends are left in the old neighborhood. Floods – too many for her to even remember – have all but erased her childhood in Ford subdivision.

“I can see it in my head,” she said of the once-bustling neighborhood around Jackson Lane and Hardin Road, “but it’s nothing like it used to be. You can’t even tell anyone ever lived there now. It’s sad.”

Mississippi RiverTODAY’S STAGE: 49.3 feetFELL: 0.6 footFLOOD STAGE: 43 feetSTEELE BAYOU:Landside: 91.4Riverside: 98.3Today, the Mississippi River stage is 49.3 feet, a fall of 0.6 foot from Tuesday. Flood stage of 43 feet at Vicksburg was surpassed on March 29, with the river cresting at 50.9 feet on April 19, making it the worst flood since 1973 when the crest was 51.6 feet. The river is forecast to fall to flood stage on May 21.

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There are no homes remaining on Jackson Lane or Hardin Road. Some residents have voluntarily moved out, tired of having their possessions and homes repeatedly waterlogged through the years. More than 20 homes in Ford subdivision have been purchased and demolished via a Federal Emergency Management Agency floodplain buyout program since the flood of 1997.

Moore’s grandmother, Daisy Reed, has a home on Ford Road and is the last of her immediate family remaining in Ford subdivision. Reed’s home is currently taking on a few feet of water, and it is likely she won’t be able to return to it when the floodwaters subside. The City of Vicksburg is pursuing another buyout of Ford Subdivision with FEMA aid.

“She’s 74 years old, and she still has to work part time just to pay the bills,” said Moore of her grandmother. “It really breaks my heart to see everything she is going through.”

Many Ford subdivision residents question a potential buyout. The market value of the homes, especially in a down housing market, are low. Moore said any buyout money her grandmother receives will most likely not be enough for her to begin her life anew, and she is asking the Vicksburg community to help those who have been most affected by the flooding in any way they can.

“I know gas is high, and food is high, but there’s more ways to help out than just giving money,” she said. “You can offer someone a ride to the store, or offer to baby-sit for them. This is a chance to come together as a community to try to help each other.”

Flood PhotosSlideshowGalleryRecently, Moore was assigned to give a speech in an oral communications course at Hinds Community College in Vicksburg. The instructor said to choose a topic the students were passionate about. Moore chose to address her fellow classmates about the importance of helping flood victims.

“This is something I’ve dealt with my whole life. I know how much any help really means when you’ve lost everything,” said Moore, who hasn’t lived in Ford subdivision since the buyout in 1997.

Moore said she used to enjoy the flood evacuations as a child, when she was reared by Reed and her other grandmother, Nancy Hall.

“I loved it. We’d move out of the house for a while and move back home, and we’d get all new furniture,” she said. “I didn’t understand what the damage really meant.”

She started hating the floods when she started losing belongings that she couldn’t replace, such as her baptism certificate and childhood photos.

“So now I’m photo crazy about her,” said Moore of her 2-year-old daughter, Breonna. “I’ve got photo albums and shoe boxes full of pictures because I want her to have plenty to look back on when she’s older.”