
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SATURDAY, July 31, 1993                   TAG: 9308030321
SECTION: NATL/INTL                    PAGE: A-4   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Leslie Taylor
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

ROCKBRIDGE, LEXINGTON `ADOPT' FLOODED SISTER COUNTY IN ILLINOIS

Rockbridge area folk know the devastation of flooding, having been hit hard twice - once in 1969, and again in 1985.

Now they are doing for one Illinois county what others, on a smaller scale, have done for them .

Rockbridge County and the city of Lexington have "adopted" the county of Calhoun, in west central Illinois, for a relief effort.

"We have gone through some of the devastation, not to the magnitude these people are going through," Bob Weikel, deputy emergency services coordinator, said. "But we know you come to depend upon your own resources and eventually, they run out. With as many people who have been hit along the Mississppi, assistance can only spread so far."

Calhoun County sits on a peninsula, surrounded on three sides by the Illinois and Mississippi rivers, Weikel said. Travel in and out has been limited to a narrow gravel road because ferrys have been put out of service, highways flooded out and bridges cut off, Weikel said.

Most Calhoun residents work in the Alton, Ill. or St. Louis areas, both four to five hours away.

"These people have been hit extremely hard," Weikel said. "We know how hard it is to get assistance in and get the material that you actually need."

Rockbridge-area businesses, volunteer fire departments, rescue and first aid crews and the Rockbridge County and Lexington city governments have pooled their interests for a regional relief effort.

Officials in Calhoun County have expressed a need for canned goods, paper products, diapers, baby food, bottled water, hygiene products, life jackets, flashlights, batteries, cleaning and disinfectant items - anything that will help with everyday living, according a news release issued by the Rockbridge County Board of Supervisors on Friday.

Collection points are being established at the Rockbridge area KMart, Food Lion, Kroger and Wal-Mart stores. Anyone wishing to drop off items at these locations should contact area volunteer fire departments for a collection schedule.

Anyone wishing to contribute money, should make checks payable to "Calhoun County Illinois Flood Relief Fund" and sent to the Rockbridge County Administrator's Office, Attn: D.G. Austin, 150 S. Main St., Lexington, Va., 24450.

Money donations will be used to purchase materials and supplies that will be delivered to Calhoun.

For more information, contact the Rockbridge County administrator's office at (703) 463-9407.

by CNB