- My Forums
- Tiger Rant
- LSU Recruiting
- SEC Rant
- Saints Talk
- Pelicans Talk
- More Sports Board
- Fantasy Sports
- Golf Board
- Soccer Board
- O-T Lounge
- Tech Board
- Home/Garden Board
- Outdoor Board
- Health/Fitness Board
- Movie/TV Board
- Book Board
- Music Board
- Political Talk
- Money Talk
- Fark Board
- Gaming Board
- Travel Board
- Food/Drink Board
- Ticket Exchange
- TD Help Board
Customize My Forums- View All Forums
- Show Left Links
- Topic Sort Options
- Trending Topics
- Recent Topics
- Active Topics
Started By
Message
re: Mississippi River Flooding - Links & Pictures in 1st Post
Posted on 5/8/11 at 9:19 pm to El Josey Wales
Posted on 5/8/11 at 9:19 pm to El Josey Wales
Josey, I stood on the levee and watched two of the boats. The captain tried gunning the engine. Then another boat tried to pull him loose, but it too ran around. Then they tried to rock it loose by having the crew run from side to side. Finally the captain had the crew get into the water. What they didn't know is that they ran aground on a paved state highway and could have easily waded to the levee where I was standing. It was like watching a rerun of Gilligan's Island.
This post was edited on 5/8/11 at 9:20 pm
0
Posted on 5/8/11 at 9:19 pm to El Josey Wales
quote:
was in the national guard. I can only imagine the the clusterfrick that these "highly trained guardsmen" created with these boats.
Hopefully it was filmed
Posted on 5/8/11 at 9:20 pm to El Josey Wales
quote:
I was in the national guard. I can only imagine the the clusterfrick that these "highly trained guardsmen" created with these boats.
they don't have a lot of call for assault bridges in iraq or afghanistan.....but i can imagine the goat rope....
Posted on 5/8/11 at 9:25 pm to vl100butch
Memphis may be approaching a near recored river level, but most of my neighbors (plus The City of Germantown) had their sprinklers on.
<--- yard is looking damn good.
<--- yard is looking damn good.
Posted on 5/8/11 at 9:26 pm to RhodeIslandRed
quote:
The Corps had everyone scared stiff in Caruthersville, Missouri. Said that the river would crest at 49.5 feet and the floodwall stands at 50.0. The river crested today at 47.2. These are the same nimrods who intentionally flooded 133,000 acres of prime farmland to save a deteriorated ghetto.
Then the Missouri National Guard ran six boats aground in the BPNM Floodway doing what only they know. Three boats with the Missouri State Highway Patrol and one from Sikeston DPS grounded trying to rescue them. Finally they had to be evacuated using Black Hawk helicopters. There is not a single redneck in Mississippi County, Missouri, who would have been ignorant enough to take anything into the center of the floodway larger than an eight foot jon boat.
This would all be hilarious if it were not so tragic.
I detect a bit of anger and fustration
It's easy to second guess, and have 20/20 hindsight. But i'm sure they erred on the side of not devestating population areas. The whole process is moving the flood to areas that will impact the least. The birds point level is designed to be blown when the river reaches a certain rate, just like the BC and Morg. When the flow rate/level reach a set point it triggers the move. Unlike BC and morg, the birds point spillway doesn't have moveable barriers, it just an earthen wall
An flooding farmland vs having a possible population area flooding, you flood the farm land every time...
There isn't always an easy answer, sometimes you are faced with two hard choices, so you go with the one that is the lesser evil of the two...
Posted on 5/8/11 at 9:27 pm to RhodeIslandRed
quote:
Said that the river would crest at 49.5 feet and the floodwall stands at 50.0. The river crested today at 47.2.
So this is good for us overall right? It sure sounds like it.
Posted on 5/8/11 at 9:30 pm to WoWyHi
here is a ustream of the bonnet carre from usace if it hasnt been posted yet
Not live right now
ustream of bonnet carre
Not live right now
ustream of bonnet carre
Posted on 5/8/11 at 9:50 pm to tigeraddict
quote:
An flooding farmland vs having a possible population area flooding, you flood the farm land every time...
Obviously you have not the foggiest notion of the positive economic impact saving the farmland in the Birds Point - New Madrid Floodway would have been compared to risking Cairo, Illinois.
Since it is equally obvious that you've never been to Cairo, let me give you a quick tour. Most of what you will see was filmed on Commercial Street, which was once the economic hub of southern Illinois, western Kentucky and southeast Missouri. The mansion named Riverlore has been owned by the "city" for the past several years, but nothing other than interest payments have been made on the loan. I wouldn't dare offer $50,000 if I didn't want to own it.
LINK
Posted on 5/8/11 at 10:02 pm to RhodeIslandRed
nm
This post was edited on 5/8/11 at 10:04 pm
Posted on 5/8/11 at 10:02 pm to RhodeIslandRed
like i said, there rent always good solutions to chose between. The flooding of the New Madrid effect then just lowering the water level at cairo, it also delayed cresting dates farther down stream as well. Flooding 205 sq miles of farm land acts as a capacitor. It takes a large volume of water out of the current picture, and lowers the stress on the entire river system. They said it would take months to drain all the water out of the floodway. That is well beyond the period of the flooding event.
Yes it sucks that farmers lives were impacted. but this is just on of many safety valves at the corps disposal to save the system as a whole. Once morganza is opened, the losses within new madrid will seem trivial in comparison, but a loss of the levee between BR and NO would be a much, much worse event
Yes it sucks that farmers lives were impacted. but this is just on of many safety valves at the corps disposal to save the system as a whole. Once morganza is opened, the losses within new madrid will seem trivial in comparison, but a loss of the levee between BR and NO would be a much, much worse event
Posted on 5/8/11 at 10:04 pm to RhodeIslandRed
Read your statement. It is a FLOODWAY. It was meant to be used in such situations. I understand you don't like it and you think everything is Cairo is worthless and should be flushed away. A choice was made to use the FLOODWAY and save the worthless individuals of Cairo. Using the example of past flooding in the spillway here in Louisiana, the land will come back, it will be used again. Hopefully the next time the river floods, you can be in charge and you can choose to screw the people in Cairo and not use the FLOODWAY as it was designed.
Posted on 5/8/11 at 10:08 pm to ptra
quote:
Read your statement. It is a FLOODWAY. It was meant to be used in such situations. I understand you don't like it and you think everything is Cairo is worthless and should be flushed away. A choice was made to use the FLOODWAY and save the worthless individuals of Cairo. Using the example of past flooding in the spillway here in Louisiana, the land will come back, it will be used again. Hopefully the next time the river floods, you can be in charge and you can choose to screw the people in Cairo and not use the FLOODWAY as it was designed.
Posted on 5/8/11 at 10:24 pm to ptra
in 1927, Calvin Coolidge instructed the Mississippi River Commission to develop a flood control plan and it did. Edgar Jadwin, Chief of Engineers, didn't like it largely because of the costs so he submitted his own. The MRC plan did not provide for the BPNM Floodway, but Jadwin's plan did and it was accepted.
Perhaps the economic landscape and our knowledge of hydrology have both changed since 1927, but the flood control plan hasn't. Would you want to face a life threatening situation and have your doctors use only the medical knowledge and technology that was available in 1927?
Everyone in Louisiana knew what was happening in 1831, when Capt. Shreve dredged the canal at Turnbill's Bend which led to the Mississippi River diverting more and more of its water into the Atchafalaya. So in 1950, the USACE assessed the situation and built the Old River Control Structure to save Baton Rouge, New Orleans and Morgan City. That situation obviously changed over the course of time just as it has with Cairo and the BPNM Floodway. Arguably, we should change with it.
Perhaps the economic landscape and our knowledge of hydrology have both changed since 1927, but the flood control plan hasn't. Would you want to face a life threatening situation and have your doctors use only the medical knowledge and technology that was available in 1927?
Everyone in Louisiana knew what was happening in 1831, when Capt. Shreve dredged the canal at Turnbill's Bend which led to the Mississippi River diverting more and more of its water into the Atchafalaya. So in 1950, the USACE assessed the situation and built the Old River Control Structure to save Baton Rouge, New Orleans and Morgan City. That situation obviously changed over the course of time just as it has with Cairo and the BPNM Floodway. Arguably, we should change with it.
This post was edited on 5/8/11 at 10:29 pm
Posted on 5/8/11 at 10:28 pm to ptra
quote:
the land will come back, it will be used again
I think you're right and surely hope so. But nobody has ever seen anything like this in recorded history. We'll know later.
Posted on 5/8/11 at 10:49 pm to RhodeIslandRed
quote:
Since it is equally obvious that you've never been to Cairo, let me give you a quick tour. Most of what you will see was filmed on Commercial Street, which was once the economic hub of southern Illinois, western Kentucky and southeast Missouri. The mansion named Riverlore has been owned by the "city" for the past several years, but nothing other than interest payments have been made on the loan. I wouldn't dare offer $50,000 if I didn't want to own it. LINK
Good god! Was that depressing!
Posted on 5/8/11 at 10:52 pm to RhodeIslandRed
quote:
The Corps had everyone scared stiff in Caruthersville, Missouri. Said that the river would crest at 49.5 feet and the floodwall stands at 50.0. The river crested today at 47.2. These are the same nimrods who intentionally flooded 133,000 acres of prime farmland to save a deteriorated ghetto.
Do you not realize that the decision to
quote:
intentionally flooded 133,000 acres of prime farmland to save a deteriorated ghetto.
Is also the reason why
quote:
The river crested today at 47.2
instead of 49.5 ft.
Even though the BPNM had no effect on the river levels in Baton Rouge or New Orleans it did in areas such as Caruthersville.
I think you have made your point that you did not agree with the blowing of the levees at BPNM, but I believe you may have missed the fact that they did it to release pressure from the levees in other areas not just Cairo.
Posted on 5/8/11 at 10:55 pm to RhodeIslandRed
quote:
That situation obviously changed over the course of time just as it has with Cairo and the BPNM Floodway. Arguably, we should change with it.
I agree but reading about past floods leads me to believe nothing will be changed unless it breaks. The '73 flood caused the Old River Structure to fail. This caused the Corp to build back up structures in the 80's. It seems backup should have been in place originally.
Now that the BPNM has been used, and will have to be rebuilt the Corp will consider using new technology to reduce the effect to the floodway if the situation should happen again.
Posted on 5/8/11 at 11:08 pm to ScottieP
Scottie P., you do realize that the projected crest of 49.5 at Caruthersville was issued AFTER the BPNM Floodway had been activated. Don't you?
So if the USACE could screw up a projection that badly at Caruthersville do you think it could be possible that they also miscalculated the projected crest at Cairo?
So if the USACE could screw up a projection that badly at Caruthersville do you think it could be possible that they also miscalculated the projected crest at Cairo?
Posted on 5/8/11 at 11:25 pm to RhodeIslandRed
quote:
Scottie P., you do realize that the projected crest of 49.5 at Caruthersville was issued AFTER the BPNM Floodway had been activated. Don't you?
Actually I have not been paying attention to the river up north, my job deal with what is going to happen in Louisiana.
quote:
So if the USACE could screw up a projection that badly at Caruthersville do you think it could be possible that they also miscalculated the projected crest at Cairo?
You do realize that the USACE does not do river forecasts.
The NWS and NOAA are in charge of that.
Look I am not trying to defend the USACE, they are the reason why my entire family lives in Baton Rouge now instead of St Bernard.
But I think they actually got it right this time. The BPNM was needed to take pressure off the levees. The BC Spillway and Morganza Spillway will be used to do the same.
Posted on 5/8/11 at 11:27 pm to vl100butch
quote:
i really don't have a lot of sympathy for the farmers there or in the Morganza....they all know/knew they are in a floodway...now if it were like a 1927 demolition of the levees in St. Bernard Parish, where there was no floodway, that's a different story....
You're a freaking nimrod then butch. Its not like it floods on a weekly basis. Those farmers are out their busting their arse trying to feed and clothe the world and make a living to support their families. Their world is about to be turned upside down, but its good to know that you dont have sympathy for them.
Page 109 of 141
Popular
Back to top
Follow TigerDroppings for LSU Football News