Map of estimated flooding:
Posted on 05/14/2011 3:03:17 PM PDT by NoLibZone
The Army Corps of Engineers begins diverting water to a flood plain, a move that will slowly swamp farmland and small towns to relieve pressure on levees protecting New Orleans and Baton Rouge.
Reporting from New Orleans— In a last-ditch move to relieve stress on levees burdened by Mississippi River floodwaters, the Army Corps of Engineers on Saturday opened a spillway to gradually inundate a major floodplain for only the second time in nearly 40 years, funneling water over farmland and small communities to save New Orleans and Baton Rouge, La., from inundations.
At 3 p.m. CDT, a large crane lifted the metal teeth on one of the Morganza Spillway's 125 gates, marking the first time in the nation's history that three of the Mississippi River spillways were opened at the same time. The New Madrid floodway in Missouri and the Bonnet Carre spillway in Louisiana were opened earlier this month as the river reached record or near-record levels in several states.
(Excerpt) Read more at latimes.com ...
I am asking the experts here:
Does this harm people to protect New Orleans?
If so how many?
Of course it does, but who’s fault is it that they live in a flood plain?
Let's recount the problems ~ first, America's most corrupt police force. Then, there are the Formosa Termites ~ literally eating up the city from the inside out.
Record breaking hurricanes, including a near-miss with Katrina. Corrupt Democrats ~ exceptionally corrupt Democrats.
BP blowout combined with federal government failure to respond.
Finally, record breaking Mississippi River floods.
I think the place is DOOMED!
Appears so
Live by the floodplain, die by the floodplain.
Lesson learned: don't build on a floodplain (or below sea level for that matter).
Not an expert, but it looks like a lot of farmers and people living in small towns are going to be pissed.
Map of estimated flooding:
not to mention a river delta...
NOLA is just a hell of a place to build a city.
Heard an interview (on NPR, but don’t hate me!) with a woman, 80 yrs old, runs a grocery store in a town that will be flooded by this. Everyone should have such a positive attitude, she said she’s been lucky and will deal with whatever happens because it’s been her choice to live there and operate her business there. A great American.
My (limited) understanding is that the Morganza was designed to provide pressure relief for the Old River Control structures;
while it is Bonnet Carre that provides relief to N’awlins.
It all started to save Cairo, Ill so Missouri, Memphis, Tunica, Vicksburg, New Orleans all get hit hard. You would think they would have a better way to move the excess water without hitting all the land, cities, casino’s all the way down the Mississippi to the gulf.
Seems as thought 20% of LA is a flood plane.
Another article said that they would inundate crops and flood houses and barns over an area about the size of Connecticut. But maybe they have to do this to avoid even worse disasters.
Can you imagine what the press would be saying if Bush was in the White House while this was going on?
As it is, Obama has basically shrugged, ducked addressing the issue, and continued his golfing and fundraising activities—when he’s not having rap parties.
http://www.wwl.com/Morganza-Spillway-now-open/9837980
About 25,000 people and 11,000 structures could be in harm’s way when the Morganza spillway is unlocked for the first time in 38 years. Sheriffs and National Guardsmen were warning people in a door-to-door sweep through the area, and shelters were ready to accept up to 4,800 evacuees, Gov. Bobby Jindal said.
Some people living in the threatened stretch of countryside - an area known for small farms, fish camps and a drawling French dialect - have already started fleeing for higher ground.
end snip
Remember that there are areas within this flood plain that have levees protecting the towns, etc. So not everything will be flooded as I understand it.
There is a large oil refinery in that area (Krotz Springs) that may have to shut down due to the flooding. Look for gasoline prices to make another jump. I think they’ve had to shut down some pipelines too.
There will be mardi gras parades in NO long after you and I are gone.
Here is a reasonably accurate website on the history of the Lower Mississippi and Atchafalaya rivers and how the flood control systems tie together and why it was done.
http://www.americaswetlandresources.com/background_facts/detailedstory/LouisianaRiverControl.html
Louisiana OLD RIVER CONTROL STRUCTURE and Mississippi river flood protection
They are saying that one gate is releasing 10,000 cubit feet of water per min. that is almost 75,000 gallons of water per min.
The basic problem is that you currently have more rive than you have river channel. So, you have a choice, let the river overtop the levees wherever it wants with almost certain destruction of many cities and towns; or release water into planned overflow zones in order to relieve pressure on the levees and reduce the river level at certain points. This has been the policy since the 1993 flood and many small towns were moved to higher ground to create these overflow zones. Not everyone agreed to move, but they knew that future floods would release water that would flood their land.
Had not the control structures and levees not been constructed in the early 1950’s, the Mississippi River would have changed course and followed the route of the present-day Atachafalaya. From Baton Rouge to the Gulf of Mexico, the Mississippi River would have become an saline estuary and Morgan City would have ceased to exist, along with quite a bit of the offshore support infrastructure in that area.
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