It all starts here in Lake Itasca, MN. Ever walk across the Mississippi?
Posted on 05/14/2011 3:03:17 PM PDT by NoLibZone
Giving it a month ~ remember, the gradient is higher in the upper reaches of the Ohio. Even in Indiana you have a 100 ft + fall from Northern Indiana to Southern Indiana (which is why they build lakes all along the escarpment where the glacial till ends and the pre-iceage topography takes over.
Giving it a month ~ remember, the gradient is higher in the upper reaches of the Ohio. Even in Indiana you have a 100 ft + fall from Northern Indiana to Southern Indiana (which is why they build lakes all along the escarpment where the glacial till ends and the pre-iceage topography takes over.
I was watching a live report on the opening of the first gate and took note of something.
The ACOE spokesperson let it slip that their fear was scouring taking place on the backside of the structure in the release area. They almost lost the Old River Structure from the same scouring action in the 1973 flood, and the current flood is much, much, greater.
Sounded like they will be slowly opening one gate at a time, which will likely be accompanied by more than a few prayers.
The Corps has been holding water in the reservoirs they manage in WV. This year the level has been above the normal summer pool.
I had know about the possibility of the Atchafalaya capturing the Mississippi since college. But it took me reading a Dirk Pitt novel to understand how very real that possibility was ...
It is not a "probability," is is a certainty. There will one day be a flood that will accomplish the task. Just as one day, there will be a Cat 5 hurricane that will hit Miami dead center and kill many, many people. One day, a 9.2 quake will hit greater Los Angeles and it will be really bad.
IIRC, the present system is designed to resist a 500 year flood. That is to say, on average, such an event is likely every 500 years. Well one day there will be a 1000-year flood or a 10,000-year flood. Do we spend the money to contain it, or roll the dice?
“There will be mardi gras parades in NO long after you and I are gone.”
Hmmm. A Mardi Gras in scuba gear. I can dig it.
The little town of Tickfaw is not far from Hammond and I have fond memories of the place. In the early 1950s we were migrant farm workers and came yearly for picking strawberries for a farmer by the name of Campesi. (sp)
There was a contingent of Italian farmers in the immediate area, and some of the best people one could hope to meet. Even as a young kid, what struck me about the people, was they did not treat us like workers, but more like friends or family. We were invited to their barbeques (with strawberry wine) and other gatherings. The older boys in the family worked in New Orleans, but when they came home with their families for weekend visits, they always took me fishing with them out on Lake Pontchartrain.
They were simply great folks, and I hope their outgoing and friendly lifestyle still survives.
I've been saying that for 60+ years. My have they been lucky.
Also, the Outer Banks, etc.
Andrew missed by about 20 miles.
I crtainly hope they did a study to ensure there are no endangered eartworms, crickets, or snails in the areas to be flooded - that would just be wrong...
Interesting, thanks
Did they actually save Cairo?
You’d think the civil engineers would have the good sense to realize that letting a small city drown was better than taking out a dam that would destroy everything in its path.
The whole thing was stupid from the start and isn’t getting any better. Too bad we now have so many brainless living and working in the U.S.
Not an “expert”, but a resident of LA. Have not read this article in its entirety but the facts are that if the Spillway were NOT opened not only would BR and NO get inundated, but also some if not all of the same communities that are being flooded now - only it would be worse. Butte La Rose will get it either way, as will most of those small communities. They are in a no-win situation.
“It’s not just New Orleans, but Baton Rouge, and a good portion of red state Louisiana. This was not an easy decision to make. They agonized over this for many days, finally pulling the plug to flood mostly farmland to save two major metro areas and a great deal of oil refineries along the lower Mississippi. This was not a middle of the night sneak blow up the levee type of thing”
Excellent post and as a native and resident of Louisiana I thank you for it. You are right; much agonizing over it and no one’s cheering over the decision. We who will be (likely) spared feel so very badly for those who will not be and we are all praying. Contrary to what the media would have FReepers and everyone else believe, LA does for its own.
It all starts here in Lake Itasca, MN. Ever walk across the Mississippi?
TRANSLATION: Screw the big property owners—Republican and white—and save New Orleans—black and Democrat.
TRANSLATION: Screw the big property owners—Republican and white—and save New Orleans—black and Democrat. What a coincidence, huh??!!!
The bottom line to all of this is that no one except for the good Lord really knows where the water is really going to end up going. I wonder how many times God is going to have to remind folks that the Mississippi was there first and let it go where it has a mind to.
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