I don’t know the area well, but drive thru every couple of months on I-55 heading to or back from the south. Strikes me that the land on the west side of the river is far more productive. Rather than flood hundreds of thousands of acres of productive farm land in this day of soaring food prices, wouldn’t it make more sense to evacuate Cairo and let nature take it’s course? If it does flood the little town and some surrounding acreage, then we can flood the area with FEMA bucks after the deluge is past and rebuild Cairo (this time a bit higher, please).
Anyway, my prayers go out to folks on both sides of the river. If the rains continue and the Ohio, Mississippi and Missouri all continue to swell, they may well all be underwater in a week or so anyway.
You are right, the Missouri side is prosperous/productive than the Illinois side. And starting Cairo anew, might well be the best thing that could that could happen to it. The hundreds of people being forced to leave their homes from the floodway will likely loose everything if the levees are blown.
The Mississippi is nearly as high as it was in ‘93 and that was a record. But this year the Ohio is also at flood stage. Cairo may well be doomed, whether or not the levees are blown.
I’ll confess, I don’t know how “political” the Corps of Engineers is. But I’d like to think that the decision that they make will not be based on the victims politics.