CWS flood response in Missouri: Debra Tarver – YouTube Video
CWS Emergency Response Specialist Bryan Crousore traveled to the Missouri House of Representatives on Feb. 22 to show support for the people of Pinhook, a Missouri village that was deliberately flooded by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers as part of a flood control program.
Debra Tarver, Chairman of the Village Board of Pinhook, requested that Crousore be present while she and her sister Twana told their community’s story to members of the Black Caucus of the Missouri House of Representatives.
Pinhook was a rural, African-American community in Mississippi County, Missouri. It was founded in a flood-prone area in the 1920s because discrimination prevented African-Americans from buying land in safer areas.
As the Mississippi River flooded in May 2011, the Corps exploded a levee protecting Pinhook in order to divert floodwaters that threatened other levees and communities.
Pinhook’s 52 residents had only a few hours to collect their belongings, Tarver said. Many returned to find their homes not only flooded but vandalized and looted, and they are now living with relatives or in temporary rental housing.
Tarver said that the people of Pinhook love their community and are fighting for its survival. They are asking for federal and state funding to rebuild their homes together in a safer location.
Crousore voiced his support for Tarver’s proposal in conversations with state representatives.
“I was able to talk with a number of the representatives and inform them that this project has the attention of national faith groups but that government money and attention will be necessary,” he says.
According to Crousore, several representatives expressed their astonishment that the disaster in Pinhook had been neglected. They contrasted it to the national attention that was given to Joplin, in western Missouri, when it was devastated by a tornado three weeks later.
As a CWS Emergency Response Specialist, Crousore regularly provides advice and training to people who are helping their communities recover from disasters. Tarver participated in a workshop that Crousore led on long-term recovery strategies for communities in southeastern Missouri in June 2011.
“This is something that I’ve been looking for,” Tarver said at the time.
Since then, Crousore has stayed in touch with the community to provide advice when requested.