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

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The Bonnet Carre will be open first then if needed the Morganza Spillway will be opened.

You can bank on the BC spillway being opened sometime next week. Morganza will be opened only if Baton Rouge is threatened.

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Does opening the Bonnet Carre provide UPSTREAM relief? Or, more to the point, would it make any significant difference at Baton Rouge?

I was reading a USACE webpage the other night about the MR&T Project. I gathered that flow rates were the main determining factor in opening the floodways (or allowing greater flow through the ORCS). The number was a little over 3,000,000 cfs at Old River/Morganza and 1,250,000 cfs at New Orleans. The plan called for the flow to be reduced to 1,500,000 cfs at Old River and further reduced to 1,250,000 at Bonnet Carre.

I have some knowledge of the Birds Point - New Madrid Floodway. It covers approximately 133,000 acres of farmland in Mississippi County, Missouri.

It is a part of the Mississippi River and Tributaries Act of 1928, to control flooding. Its major function is to protect Cairo, Illinois.

One hundred years ago Cairo was the major economic hub of southern Illinois, western Kentucky and southeast Missouri with a population of around 20,000. It is now a microcosm of Detroit with about 2,600 people of whom surely fewer than 1,000 are taxpayers. Last year the town had its police cars repossessed.

The BPNM Floodway has been used once in 1937. The Ohio River gauge hit 58 feet at Cairo with 60 projected and it was activated. The gauge dropped 0.2 of a foot for 12 hours before rising again to a record of 59.5.

The gauge is now at 61.11 feet with 63 projected. This flood is worse than the one in 1937, and may well become the worst on record. The USACE is pumping explosive slurry into the fuse plug section. The next step would be to attach primer and the final step would be detonation. If the floodway is activated 11,000 feet of levee will be blasted away in 1,000 foot sections sending a virtual tsunami through approximately one-third of the county.

Naturally the people who farm and work in the floodway do not want it to be activated. They and their ancestors turned a swamp into some of the most productive farmland in America while the citizens of Cairo and their ancestors turned a booming and growing town into a deteriorating shite hole. You could buy one of the few nice houses left in Cairo for a lot less than the cost of 10 acres of farmland in the floodway. As a point of reference farmland in Mississippi County has been recently selling in the area of $4,000 to $5,000 per acre.

Very few people live in the BPNM Floodway - far fewer than in Cairo - but there is a significant agricultural investment there. There are barns, grain tanks, silos, offices, etc. The adverse economic impact of activation would be devastating. Also there is a big concern among the thousands who live in Missouri towns located outside but near the floodway that the secondary levees might break thereby flooding them too.

There is a strong military presence in Mississippi County including armed Humvees and it is pretty obvious to everyone there what is about to occur. National Guard and emergency rescue vessels from other parts of the state are on hand, presumably because the USACE does not know if the secondary levees will hold either. The floodway was evacuated and military personnel is preventing anyone from entering by vehicle.

The Mississippi River flows to the south and all this water is eventually coming to the states in the Lower Mississippi Valley. Expect the worst.

For the most recent information go to "Birds Point New Madrid Floodway Joint Information Center" on Facebook.

EDITED FOR RIVER STAGES

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If the Morganza Spillway is opened, will that affect the bridge on 190 that goes over it?

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I know that bridge is old but what do you mean? Would it be unstable?

Highway 1 goes over the spillway opening. If that's what you mean.

190 goes over the spillway much further south.

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10 east of Melville is not raised. It's paved on the ground

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Thanks. Never been there. On the map, it looks like it would be a dam for the spillway water. May try google earth to see what it shows.

ScottieP have you ever taken a hydrology class or have a technical background to base your statement that it will not effect upstream and downstream? not trying to flame just wondering what your statement is based off of. was in a meeting with the USACE and they stated that the the diversions do have effect upstream and downstream and also a hydrology/hydraulics class will teach you that water "stacks up". as i said not trying to flame here just wondering where you were getting you info from.

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So how is BR Scottie....in english and please dont use big words

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As of now the predicted crest is 47.5' on May 21st. The levees in BR sit right around 50'. We'll be cutting it close, but everything should hold.

Morganza Spillway to my knowledge has never been opened. I was wrong, just spoke to my Dad and my uncle worked on the Old River Control Structure during the 1973 flood and said it was opened then. Said they almost lost the Control Structure in 1973 from scouring. They would put house size boulders on the river side to stop it and they would see them rolling in the current on the other side. He said it was very scary. The whole thing was shaking. That is why they built the auxiliary structure.

Morganza was opened in 1973.

We just got off of a conference call. They plan to blow the levee at 2200-2400.