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

What a read. I moved to N.O. in 1972. Started working at national american bank on corondalet. What a diff. world. I remember the girls I worked with being VERY concerned about the bonnet carre being opened. Now I understand why. Thank you very much. God I had no idea what was going on.

It's such a unique drive thru Cairo. You go from Kentucky, to Illinois, to Missouri in like a minute.

Kentucky and Missouri are the only states that touch, but with no connected roads.

You're the boat. You're fine as is.

heh

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. The doom and gloom.seems exciting to talk about but not a probable reality by a long shot.

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My business deals with the river and is the river every day. You are so right in your comments. Historical yes. A terrible tragedy like the flood of 1927? No. Not for most.

I didn't read through all 50 pages of this thread so I may not be the first to comment or ask this. I live in avoyelles parish right by the atchafalaya river. People have so many different stories and predictions around here it is hard to say what's true and what's not. Some of you seem to be pretty knowledgeable so what do you think might happen around here?

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Kentucky and Missouri are the only states that touch, but with no connected roads.

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There are a few connecting roads, technically. There are two patches of Kentucky that are on the west side of the Mississippi, thanks to its changing course; there are some farm roads that cross the muddy state line.

About 2 weeks.

This is from the National Weather Service flood warning that is in effect for my zip code in clayton which is between Ferriday and Sicily Island.



SYSNOPSIS...

RECORD FLOODING IS EXPECTED FROM VICKSBURG TO NATCHEZ. OVER THE
LAST 72 HOURS...RAINFALL FROM 3 TO 10 INCHES HAS OCCURRED FROM
SOUTHWEST THROUGH CENTRAL ARKANSAS AND INTO WEST TENNESSEE.
ALSO, RAINFALL FROM 3 TO 8 INCHES HAS OCCURRED FROM NORTH ARKANSAS
ACROSS THE MISSOURI BOOTHILL AND OVER CAIRO ILLINOIS AND UP THE
OHIO RIVER VALLEY. THIS RAINFALL OCCURRED ON AN ALREADY SWOLLEN OHIO...
MISSISSIPPI...ARKANSAS...AND WHITE RIVERS. AFTER THE ACTIVATION OF THE
BIRDS POINT- NEW MADRID FLOODWAY...THE LOWER OHIO RIVER
AT CAIRO FELL 1.5 FEET AND WAS AT 60 FEET AND EXPECTED TO HOLD
STEADY OVER THE NEXT SEVERAL DAYS. THIS ACTIVIATION OF THE FLOODWAY
SHOULD NOT AFFECT THE CREST FROM ARKANSAS CITY TO NATCHEZ. THE TIME TO
CREST HAS BEEN EXTENDED BY 2 DAYS. THE CURRENT CREST FORECAST IS
BELOW THE FLOOD OF 1927 AND THE FLOOD OF 1937 AT ARKANSAS CITY.
THE CREST AT GREENVILLE IS BELOW THE FLOOD OF 1927 BUT IS
ABOVE THE FLOOD OF 1937. WE WILL HAVE RECORD RIVER CRESTS
FROM VICKSBURG TO NATCHEZ. BACKWATER FLOODING ALONG THE YAZOO
RIVER WILL INCREASE SIGNIFICANTLY. WE ARE OVER TWO TO THREE
WEEKS AWAY FROM THE CURRENT RIVER CRESTS AND THERE WILL BE A
POTENTIAL FOR ADDITIONAL RAINFALL ACROSS ARKANSAS INTO MISSOURI
AND UP THE OHIO RIVER VALLEY. PLEASE STAY INFORMED FOR THE REMAINDER
OF THE MONTH.

THE FLOOD WARNING CONTINUES FOR
THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER AT NATCHEZ
* UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE.
* AT 7:00 PM TUESDAY THE STAGE WAS 51.6 FEET.
* MODERATE FLOODING IS OCCURRING AND RECORD FLOODING IS FORECAST.
* FLOOD STAGE IS 48.0 FEET.
* FORECAST...THE RIVER WILL CONTINUE RISING TO NEAR 65.0 FEET BY
SUNDAY MAY 22ND. THIS CREST EXCEEDS THE FLOOD OF 1937 BY 7.0 FEET...
THE FLOOD OF 2008 BY 8.0 FEET...THE FLOOD OF 1973 BY 8.3 FEET...
AND THE FLOOD OF 1927 BY 8.4 FEET.
* IMPACT...AT 56.0 FEET...SOUTH OF NATCHEZ...BOURKE ROAD IS
UNDERWATER. RESIDENTS WILL HAVE TO BOAT INTO THEIR HOMES. ALL
HOMES IN THE TOWNSHIP OF FORT ADAMS ARE FLOODED.
* IMPACT...AT 55.5 FEET...RESIDENTS AT THE END OF PERCY CREEK SAND
ROAD ARE DENIED ACCESS TO THEIR HOMES DUE TO HIGH WATER.
* IMPACT...AT 55.0 FEET...IN FORT ADAMS POND ROAD IS FLOODED. EIGHT TO
ELEVEN HOMES ARE UNDER WATER IN THE TOWNSHIPOF FORT ADAMS. BOURKE
ROAD IS FLOODED

If the predictive model used by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers indicates that these three steps will not prevent flooding, human operated structures are used:

Bonnet Carré Flood Control Structure: When the water reaches a critical stage (it was originally designed to keep the Carrollton Gauge, located at the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers headquarters at the river on River Road, New Orleans, Louisiana below the 20 ft mark - which kept the river 5 ft below the top of the levee), this flood control structure is opened to allow up to 250,000 cfs (cubic feet per second) of water to flow into Lake Pontchartrain through the Bonnet Carré Spillway. It has been operated eight times (1937, 1945, 1950, 1973, 1975, 1979, 1983, 1997).

Morganza Control Structure: After the Bonnet Carré Flood Control Structure is opened, and if the river continues to rise to the next critical stage, this structure is opened. It shunts up to 600,000 cfs into the Atchafalaya River through the Morganza Spillway. Since this is a very rare occurrence (it has only been opened once, in 1973), the rich soils of the spillway are allowed to be used for farming, especially for cattle and soybeans. If it has to be used, the lessors are notified and, if they cannot remove their animals and crops, they lose them when the waters are released through the structures.

Fuse Plug Levee: If all the above procedures are not enough to handle the flood stage of the river, the last resort is the Fuse Plug Levee. This is an east-west running levee located between the west guide levee and the west internal levee along the Atchafalaya. To its north lies the great back swamp area; to its south lies the West Atchafalaya Floodway. The Fuse Plug Levee is lower than the adjacent west guide west internal levees. If the water in the back swamp is not contained by all the above steps, then water begins to flow over the fuse plug levee rather than over adjacent levees where it would flood human habitations. Once water begins to flow over the top of the Fuse Plug Levee, it quickly tears it down until it carries a maximum of 250,000 cfs. This is designed to work on its own, but if extremely critical, it can be dynamited. To date, the Fuse Plug Levee has never been needed.

If this fails God Help Us.