By CLIFF SAIN
The Springfield News-Leader
BRANSON, Mo. (AP) - As homeowners clean up along Lake Taneycomo, a few are learning that their house is not going to be home anymore.
Elvin and Charlene Ingarten were at their house on Sunset Street in Branson on Wednesday, working to block a hole in the back of the house, even though the home will likely have to be destroyed.
"We want to keep the varmints out," Charlene said.
The Ingartens moved into the house in 2003, but they were forced out when April flooding swamped their home.
"The water was 55 inches high in the back bedroom," Charlene said.
Now they have received a letter from the city stating that it would likely cost more than 50 percent of the home's value to repair it. Because of that, the house cannot be repaired, but must be rebuilt. However, because the home is in a flood zone, according to the Federal Emergency Management Agency, any new house would have to be elevated.
"Many of the homes will have to be elevated about 11 feet," Branson Planning Director Jim Lawson said.
He said the only practical way to do that is to build the home on stilts. He said the lots are too small to allow a homeowner to raise the ground level.
Lawson said the city has about 24 condemned homes; however, he said that number is based on preliminary inspections. He said it would be a couple of weeks before the city had an exact tally of condemned homes.
The Ingartens now have decisions to make. Even with insurance and help from FEMA, the Ingartens do not think it would be practical to build a raised home.
"We can tear it down and try to sell it," Charlene said. "It comes with a dock on the lake."
In Hollister, Building & Planning Director Trent Bowers said seven homes have been condemned but as many as five more could be when more detailed inspections are completed.
One of those condemned homes belongs to Rose Malchow. On Wednesday, as crews already were ripping her house apart, she and her sister took a final look.
"I had just redone the bedroom," Malchow said.
Although Malchow owned her home, she does not own the plot where it was parked in Holland Park. She said she does not have flood insurance.
"I've lost everything," she said. "We had so little warning, some of our neighbors couldn't even get the cars out."
Malchow, who is retired, said she loves the area and plans to remain. She is staying with her sister, who also lives in Hollister, until she can find somewhere else to live.
"But not next to the water," she said.
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Information from: Springfield News-Leader, http://www.news-leader.com