“There’s no such thing any more as a 100 year flood.”

Jeff Snider told me those very words a few days before this week’s historic rise of the Meramec River, just outside St Louis.

Snider owns a real estate business in Pacific, Missouri, a quaint “city” with an apt name this week as it took on oceanic qualities.

It’s the third time this place has seen water swamp its downtown since 1982, when they saw a record crest of the Meramec of more than 33 feet.

Come midnight-ish is when the river is expected to crest this time around, and it’s predicted to do so around 31 feet.

It’s mind-boggling to think, given all the water, that Pacific isn’t experiencing a record flood. That said, not far away, they’re forecasting that the St Louis suburbs of Eureka and Valley Park may indeed see the Meramec at unprecedented heights.

In most places, the Meramec and dozens of other swollen rivers nationwide now are flowing without challenge … essentially swallowing homes and businesses. But so far, Jeff Snider has put up a formidable fight. He’s surrounded his business with a four-foot high wall of more than 10,000 sandbags. Right now, he’s dry and he intends to keep it that way.

Here’s a photo of of my tireless crew, hard at work in the Meramec, as well as a few pics of downtown Pacific.

A few of my Fox colleagues asked me this week a question similar to this. “Where did you get those waders?” The short answer: I don’t know.

After nearly nine years with Fox, I’ve covered my fair share of flooding. Same goes for my colleagues. So, the bureau “owns” three sets of waders which we take with us when covering flooding.

They’re an essential piece of equipment when on assignment with this stuff, enabling us to get some of the up-close shots you won’t see other places.

Also helping the cause … we often travel with high-tech wireless equipment, which affords us the luxury of ample room to roam.

Typically, when you watch the “live shots” on the news, the camera and the reporter are attached by a complicated, often long, web of cables. And you’re limited in your ability to move depending on the amount of cable. But when you are working in a wireless world, it’s a wonderful place to be, at least for me. But it drives our satellite truck operators batty at times, because the signal can’t shoot through buildings and tends to encounter interference in city settings.

Anyway, I’ve babbled on long enough, but I got a tad carried away sitting in the longest traffic back-up I’ve ever experienced. The Meramec has shut down all but one lane of the interstate on the way to our hotel, bringing traffic to a near crawl.

(And I actually thought the Meramec had released it’s grip on me when we packed up for the night more than an hour ago!)