re: Mississippi River Flooding - Links & Pictures in 1st Post

This structure was built to keep a current distribution. 1973 it FAILED to do this and was almost lost.

The Army Corps of Engineers was given the job of maintaining the current distribution of water between the Lower Mississippi and the Atchafalaya River channels (70%-30%). They did so by building the Old River Flood Control Structure which consisted of massive floodgates that could be opened and closed as needed at the entrance to the Old River. This structure was completed in 1963. In 1973, a large flood tested the ORCS to its limits. Huge scour developed underneath the large steel pilings which anchored the structure to the river bottom. The structure was almost swept away, and emergency concrete was poured into the holes as a kind of large Band-Aid. After the '73 flood, the corps saw the need for a backup structure, and built the Old River Control Auxiliary Structure (ORCAS) to alleviate some of the pressure on the main control structure during large scale flooding.

LINK

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It's called Monte Sano Bayou. It runs just north of the Exxon Chemical Plant


Bulletproof, are you talking about this spot?

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I made mention of this Bayou several pages back.
It is going to spell trouble for Exxon and N. Baton Rouge.

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There was a slight failure in the ORCS in '73, that is why the Morganza was open back then... look it up doc..

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I think everybody can agree that it was compromised. But the Corps has built several new structures since then (e.g., the Auxilary Structure) to take pressure off the one that almost failed.

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and for the posters bitching about the missouri farmers in that floodway...you think gas prices are high now...that floodway is having a role in saving one of the largest oil refineries in this country...

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False. That missouri spillway has very minimal effect on the exxon refinery in BR. It is used to save Cairo only.

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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

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I don't want to hate on the farmers and all, but as long as they clearly knew that they were planting in a possible flood plan (even though this flood plain hadn't been used in over 30 years), I just don't feel too sorry for them. They should collect their insurance check for their crop loss and move on. If they didn't have insurance, now I really don't feel bad for them.

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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


I don't want to hate on the farmers and all, but as long as they clearly knew that they were planting in a possible flood plan (even though this flood plain hadn't been used in over 30 years), I just don't feel too sorry for them. They should collect their insurance check for their crop loss and move on. If they didn't have insurance, now I really don't feel bad for them.

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i don't hear any griping from anyone in Louisiana, the folks in the Morganza have a good understanding of what is going on from what I see and hear, there was a good editorial last week about how things were actually done right in the Morganza to stop further development along and in the spillway as well as preserving a major wildlife area

....the grumbling you hear is from Missouri, from people who have been fighting this floodway since it was proposed after the 1927 flood...

to the poster that said that the Missouri floodway is only saving Cairo....yes and neaux!!!!

that floodway is slowing down the flow of water down river...

Sooooo.....

As of 8AM the BR stage is at 40.74' and rising at a rate of 1.22' per day.

The crest, last I saw, was the 22nd...13 days.

1.22' * 13 = 15.86'

15.86' + 40.74' = 56.6'

56.6' = :omg:

Should I shite my bed now, or wait?

Would someone with a helluva lot more knowledge than me regarding this tell me why those numbers aren't true.

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Looks like to me that federal crop loss insurance has cost all of us between $3,000,000,000 and $7,000,000,000 per year for the past ten years or so. That is net of premiums paid by the farmers. I don't want to be a hater either, but I do not know of any other industry that is insured at taxpayer cost.

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This is true. The subsidies that are handed to farmers are incredible. I feel badly for any individual who loses any of their property, but anyone that chooses to farm in a floodplain has to realize that a flood is a possibility. Farmers operating in an active spillway know the risks they are taking, and almost all have been compensated at some point for this. If the risk of being flooded doesn't justify taking the chance to farm they should find another profession.

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Thoughts and prayers go out to all who may lose camps, houses, farmland in Morganza

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on that, I can agree....

the one thing that FEMA did right back during the Clinton years was not rebuilding in flood areas...people should be encouraged to relocate outside of flood zones...

camps should be built to a standard to deal with a flood...my father's and my brother's camps at Lake Hermatige are 12 feet up (across the "street" from each other)