Cape Girardeau pumps finally shut off

CAPE GIRARDEAU, MO (KRCU) - The Mississippi River’s water level is finally going down around Cape Girardeau, allowing the city to rest their overworked pumps.

And the people working those pumps are also in need of some desperately needed down time.

Monday afternoon marked the first time in ninety days that the city’s pumping stations on the Mississippi were not running.

According to the city, the pumps did the equivalent work of driving a new car from Cape to New York and back sixty two-times.

City Manager Scott Meyer says that public work officials were forced to prioritize tasks in order to keep flood waters from backing-up into sewers near the river.

“Well for our dedicated employees it’s a great break, they finally get to go home, on their regular shifts and spend time with their families, so it’s a great thing,” Meyer said.

With the pumps off-line, the city will finally have time to perform maintenance on stressed pumps, as well as play catch-up on mowing some public properties and maintenance of several water detention areas.

Tim Filla, KRCU

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