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Article: Unprecedented growth in the flood plain brings riches and risks.
- Article from:
- St. Louis Post-Dispatch (St. Louis, MO)
- Article date:
- July 25, 2003
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2003 St. Louis Post-Dispatch. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Byline: Sara Shipley
ST. LOUIS _ Ten years ago this summer, the Flood of 1993 inundated the Midwest. More than 1,000 levees failed, 70,000 buildings were damaged, and 50 people died. Damages totaled at least $12 billion.
But soon after the water receded, some saw a way to turn the muddy river bottoms into gold mines. New development, much of it publicly subsidized, has filled the Mississippi and Missouri river valleys.
As a result, cash is flowing like water. But what will happen when the next big flood comes?
More than $2.2 billion worth of new development in the St. Louis area stands on land that was under water in the 1993 flood.
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