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History and Flood question about ring levee towns in Louisiana...
Posted on 1/3/23 at 1:31 pm
Posted on 1/3/23 at 1:31 pm
I've always been fascinated by the concept of ring levees, and how there are towns that are designed to exist and function in extreme circumstances as an island in the delta.
Do Simmsport, Krot Springs, Morgan City, and Melville all have pumps (like New Orleans) that drains what's inside of the ring levee?
Have flood waters from the Atchafalaya ever actually back flowed from Butte La Rose into St. Landry or Avoyelles parish? I know that Morgan City's levees have gotten tested before, but I wasn't sure about those upstream towns.
What's the point of these ring levees when there is a levee that runs on the west bank of the Atchafalaya river in that area almost all the way down to Catahoula? Was the state expecting to have to break the levee somewhere on the west side of the Atchafalaya to save Morgan City or other communities downstream?
Do Simmsport, Krot Springs, Morgan City, and Melville all have pumps (like New Orleans) that drains what's inside of the ring levee?
Have flood waters from the Atchafalaya ever actually back flowed from Butte La Rose into St. Landry or Avoyelles parish? I know that Morgan City's levees have gotten tested before, but I wasn't sure about those upstream towns.
What's the point of these ring levees when there is a levee that runs on the west bank of the Atchafalaya river in that area almost all the way down to Catahoula? Was the state expecting to have to break the levee somewhere on the west side of the Atchafalaya to save Morgan City or other communities downstream?
8
Posted on 1/3/23 at 1:45 pm to goofball
I assume it has something to do with the West Atchafalaya Floodway
Posted on 1/3/23 at 2:12 pm to goofball
The ring levee around Simmesport was not complete the last time I drove through it. Sections at Main St. and the railroad track on the west side had not been completed.
There exist a fuse plug levee between Simmsport and Hamburg that will allow flood waters in the spillway to overtop there and flood parts of Avoyelles parish instead of overtopping the main guide levees.
I have not seen a pump station in Simmesport.
There exist a fuse plug levee between Simmsport and Hamburg that will allow flood waters in the spillway to overtop there and flood parts of Avoyelles parish instead of overtopping the main guide levees.
I have not seen a pump station in Simmesport.
Posted on 1/3/23 at 2:17 pm to SantaFe
LaPlace and St Charles parish got screwed by all the levee protection added to New Orleans and once they add a levee in St Charles it's gonna push it further north into other parishes
fixing one problem by moving problem further away doesn't really solve anything
mother nature is going to win in the end
fixing one problem by moving problem further away doesn't really solve anything
mother nature is going to win in the end
Posted on 1/3/23 at 2:49 pm to nicholastiger
quote:
LaPlace and St Charles parish got screwed by all the levee protection added to New Orleans and once they add a levee in St Charles it's gonna push it further north into other parishes fixing one problem by moving problem further away doesn't really solve anything
This is dumb and has been debunked by scientists and engineers many times. The levees built within the large Pontchartrain basin and claimed to induce significant flooding on others is like throwing a few cheerios in a bowl of milk and saying those cheerios displaced enough milk to overtop the bowl, when in reality, their effects of raising milk levels in the huge bowl are negligible. All of Laplace/Destrehan’s recent floods can easily be explained by specific storm and atmospheric characteristics and not this dumb theory.
quote:
Mother Nature is going to win in the end
You are right about one thing
Posted on 1/3/23 at 2:52 pm to goofball
1. There are no pumps that I know of. Definitely each town has a set of gates that lets rain water out the ring levee that can be closed in case the “plug” has to be blown near Hamburg. The Feds bought the rights to flood everything in the West Atchafalaya Floodway zone. It works just like the Morganza Spillway except the spillway has a series of gates to open and close. The west would be used as a last resort and they would have to blow the levee.
2. Yes water has backed up into St Landry north of US 190 in 1972 when the spillway was opened in the area known as 3 mile lake. The last time the spillway was opened people were told to evacuate but the water never reached that far.
2. Yes water has backed up into St Landry north of US 190 in 1972 when the spillway was opened in the area known as 3 mile lake. The last time the spillway was opened people were told to evacuate but the water never reached that far.
Posted on 1/3/23 at 2:57 pm to goofball
Isn't it the difference between high river type flooding (which is what these ring levees are ostensibly protecting against for the most part) and storm/surge type flooding?
Posted on 1/3/23 at 3:00 pm to goofball
The subdivision I lived in for Katrina was surrounded by a levee.
During the storm, there was either no power for the pumps, or nobody monitoring the pumps, or both.
The subdivision filled up like the nastiest bathtub in the world and stayed full until somebody came back and turned the pumps on.
I was on the “shallow” end and got a little more than 40” over the slab. Homeowners on the deep end got more than 8’.
Posted on 1/3/23 at 3:03 pm to goofball
I am sure Morgan City has pumps to pump the rain water out when the sea wall is closed, but unlike New Orleans, most of Morgan city is above sea-level. The flooding concern was with the Atchafalaya backing up into Bayou Chene and causing flooding up through Assumption/ lower St. Martin Parish. Since they have placed the flood gate at the north end of Bayou Chene, this should not be a concern anymore.
I am more concerned with them being able to keep the river dredged. Every waterway around and south of Morgan city is silting in.
I am more concerned with them being able to keep the river dredged. Every waterway around and south of Morgan city is silting in.
Posted on 1/3/23 at 3:05 pm to Y.A. Tittle
quote:
Isn't it the difference between high river type flooding (which is what these ring levees are ostensibly protecting against for the most part) and storm/surge type flooding?
In the case of Morgan City, It protects from the spring time flooding more than storm surge.
Posted on 1/3/23 at 3:08 pm to goofball
South Lafourche was done right from the start and it continues to this very day
Posted on 1/3/23 at 3:10 pm to bbarras85
quote:
In the case of Morgan City, It protects from the spring time flooding more than storm surge.
Right. That's my point.
Posted on 1/3/23 at 3:11 pm to goofball
Those ring levees protect from flooding if they ever have to use the West Atchafalaya Floodway. If there was ever a town dying a slow, painful death it's Melville.
Posted on 1/3/23 at 3:14 pm to Y.A. Tittle
quote:
Right. That's my point.
I guess I should have added I agree with you in my reply.
Posted on 1/3/23 at 3:23 pm to Y.A. Tittle
quote:
In the case of Morgan City, It protects from the spring time flooding more than storm surge.
quote:
Right. That's my point.
This was historically true, but not so much now.
The newer levees, pumping stations, and overall drainage plan are designed to protect against both high river and storm surge flooding, even if the spring flood event was the trigger to it all being built/upgraded.
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