Cooper’s Landing negotiates space with the raging river

To Mike Cooper, a riverside resident since 1981, the muddy Missouri River means business. As the owner of Cooper’s Landing—full-service marina, campgrounds, lodge, country store and live-music venue—his service sinks with the river’s rage.
On Tuesday, May 8, floodwaters reached the road to Cooper’s Landing, limiting public access. In this situation, the only dry detour is the KATY Trail, unless the water has covered it as well.
By Friday, May 11, the land surrounding Cooper’s Landing was completely flooded, and water had started creeping into the store.
“All we can really do now is move what we can to higher ground and hope for minimal damage,” said Cooper. “We don’t expect this to be the worst we’ve seen.”
Thursday, May 17, the part of the road leading to Cooper’s Landing was still covered with at least a foot of stagnant water, and the site was a muddy mess. With plans set for hosting the musical acts booked for the weekend, and with the river level receding, Cooper and his friends pumped water and prepped the area for patrons.
“This flood deposited more mud than normal, so the cleanup of low-lying areas, such as campgrounds, will require greater effort,” said Cooper. “This is the first time we have had the availability of a tractor with a loader to minimize the time needed to repair the damage to the campgrounds.”
The two-story building at Cooper’s Landing, which was designed to withstand flooding with minor damage, was constructed in 1985 and opened as Providence Bend Bait and Tackle in 1986. Since then, floodwaters have entered the building five times: in 1987, 1993, 1995, 2001 and 2007.
“The flooding has hurt my business some because we’ve had to move out for a week at times,” said Pramuan “Chim” Duncan, owner of Chim’s Thai Kitchen, located at Cooper’s Landing. “Thankfully, we hadn’t opened the trailer yet this year, and Cooper and his friends got it moved before the water came up.”
According to Cooper, the flooding in ‘93 was the worst, lasting two months and coming in stages, so that by the time he knew the water was going to reach the building, Cooper was unable to remove the his equipment. The ’93 flooding also damaged the local roads and the KATY Trail, limiting access to Cooper’s Landing for about a year.
“With 6.5 feet of water in the building, the flood of ’93 was definitely the most damaging,” said Cooper. “It was exceptionally high and exceeded our expectations. Some of the walls and insulation had to be replaced.”
Businesses in McBaine and Hartsburg were protected from this year’s flooding by the levees. However, if the river had risen another foot, the levees probably would have failed, resulting in major, long-lasting damage.
“Hopefully the May 2007 flood will be the only one this year,” said Cooper. “I feel that the local communities that were threatened by failure of their levees will realize their vulnerability and take action to influence the government and minimize their future risk.”
According to Cooper, these actions would include reducing the range and height of agricultural levees and converting more of the Missouri River bottoms into environmentally friendly areas that allow flood waters to spread so that less pressure is placed on the levees that protect communities.
“The economic future of our area will be improved by us all embracing the idea of ‘heritage tourism.’ We can all benefit by taking advantage of our opportunities to use the Missouri River for its historical, environmental, recreational and cultural significance,” said Cooper. “By reducing—and, in some cases, eliminating—levees, we will all benefit from increased tourism while minimizing our risk to catastrophic flooding.”
After two days of sunshine and some serious mud plowing, Cooper’s Landing was in shape for the HUMAN concert held there Saturday, May 19. The store and entertainment operations, as well as some camping areas, have reopened with only one weekend’s business lost, and Chim’s Thai Kitchen has opened for the summer.