THE FLOODS THIS TIME

Because the river will not wait, National Guardsmen, prisoners and volunteers spent Memorial Day stacking sandbags against the swollen Illinois and Missouri rivers. The Illinois is not expected to crest until June 1. But while water levels in many areas may reach higher than during the disastrous floods of 1993, the actual property damage totals may be considerably less than the $12 billion in losses the region suffered two years ago. Reason: fewer people now live in the most vulnerable parts of the flood plains. Thousands of home owners have relocated to higher ground in the past two years, thanks in part to a change in federal flood insurance law. The new policy includes a buyout of property owners living in high-risk flood plains and requires people who remain in such areas to buy flood insurance to be eligible for many kinds of disaster aid.