There are many barges that are in marginal shape. When loose, they can "prang" each other and in rushes the water (and/or out, rushes the contents).
Very long lines to shore, are now required, for this kind of flooding. As previously mentioned, that can mean closing roads to traffic, so that the lines can be placed across the road, and secured to higher ground.
It is time to reach out and touch a lot of good anchors.
I've been down there, years ago, when in the military, and the work load is unimaginable. I used to wonder that the news media fail us, in not reporting what life is like on the river.
Many men, who were born into the jobs, have forearms (yeah, forearms) that are as big in diameter as their legs. I was always amazed by the guys who looked like Popeye the Sailor Man, from decades of hauling lines and tote that barge.
Tough people. Many are descendants of the old French-Canadian explorers and early Continental pioneers.
The news media has no idea what it's like. It's too tough for them to venture here and too tough for their imaginations. We accept it as a way of life that has always been. You're right, my father's forearms were huge and Popeye-like. So were his brother's (my uncle).
Anyway the barges were captured and the bridge (recall the old Fort Henry suspension bridge?) was certfied okay for traffic.
The latest: Waters here in SE OHio were receding until about 7PM, and it began to rain again. Weather reports said no rain but now, all bets are off. The rain also continues in points south (SSW) including Marietta, and (Swest) Cincinati. They're getting a triple whammy: Local run-off + our run-off + Ohio River, and the ground was saturated weeks ago---it does not hold any water, all runs off.
You're right. Mooring those barges, which when empty are heavy as lead, takes special knack in this kind of weather: Long lines for depth changes and shorter springer line(s) to keep the damn thing from rockin' & rollin', and drifting away out into the current. Guess that wasn't done with the AEP barges, probably not enough lead time on the flooding.
I predict it will get worse from Marietta down the river to beyond Cincinati and that the flooding will be 12 feet above ohio river flod stage by Tuesday.