By withtheflow at 2011-04-27
Posted on 04/27/2011 10:08:43 AM PDT by silentknight
Wednesday, April 27, 2011 ~ Updated 11:06 AM
By M.D. Kittle ~ Southeast Missourian
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers this hour is setting up a joint information center in Sikeston, Mo., and has tentatively scheduled a news conference for 1 p.m., according to a corps spokeswoman, although the timing has yet to be confirmed. Officials at the headquarters could not be reached for comment.
Meanwhile, a barge loaded with explosives was making its way from Memphis, Tenn., to Charleston, Mo., destined for the Birds Point levee as the ash gray sky prepares to unleash more heavy rains and a big decision hangs in the balance.
The Army Corps of Engineers on Tuesday postponed its decision on a proposal to blow a huge hole in the levee, just downriver of the confluence. The procedure was put in place years ago as a desperate bid to reduce the amount of water moving down the Mississippi River, taking pressure off a soddened Cairo, Ill.
Mary Statum, a spokeswoman for the Corps of Engineers Memphis District, could not comment on whether a decision on breaching the levy had been reached this morning. She said corps officials met with the multistate Mississippi River Commission for several hours Tuesday but came to no conclusion.
"We're not going to make a decision until we have to," she said Tuesday. "It's nothing we want to just jump into. You don't take it lightly. We decided we can wait a little longer."
In Cairo, and Alexander County, the water keeps rising, as the hectic pace of sandbagging continues and a voluntary evacuation remains in effect.
Alexander County Sheriff's Department dispatcher Sheila Dodson said the worst of the flooding is hitting the small community of Olive Branch. The heavy rains forecast for today, Dodson said, will only add "insult to injury" to a water-logged county.
The Mississippi is expected to crest at Cape Girardeau on Friday about four feet lower than the record-setting amount in 1993. At Cairo, Ill., not too far from Birds Point, the Ohio is expected to set a record Friday, and it is already 17 feet above flood stage. Forecasts call for the river to rise by another four feet by Friday.
Look for updates at semissourian.com, and in Thursday's Southeast Missourian.
i have this mental image of them setting the explosives and pushing the plunger — just as the new madrid fault decides it’s finally time to let go . . .
Does anyone know of a website with drawings and/or maps that show exactly what is involved here?
All I can find is that it may be an issue of deciding whether to flood lots of farmland or to allow Cairo, IL to be badly flooded.
Cairo flooding out might not be the worst idea...maybe they could start over???
Did you know Cairo IL, pronounced Karo, is furthur south than Richmond VA ?
My father was a construction worker in the 1930s. He worked on a bridge over the Mississippi River at that time. He drove us across it in the 1976, during a cross-country trip. Wonder how it will fare in this situation, or if it is even still in use?
Ping to post #2.
That’s basically what it is. Go to this yahoo maps site and you can move around to see the terrain.
http://maps.yahoo.com/#mvt=h&lat=36.976586&lon=-89.162536&zoom=13&q1=cairo%2C%20il
correction. Ohio River bridge.
Reading the title, I figured it was terrorists.
Upon further reading, I see it’s the Army Corps of Engineers.
That barge isn’t named the SULTANA is it?
ping...
Boom...
I have a mental image of Tuco and Blondie blowing up the bridge with stirring Ennio Morricone music in the background.
Could be. I’m a little confused looking at different Google images. Seems like the route across the MS now is a four-lane interstate highway. I’m pretty sure the one we went over was two lanes, and scary high for the little girl I was at the time.
Oh NO! Not the “blowing up levees” thing again?
In this particular case, there's no real difference.
my image is that after all the labor of sandbagging, that theyd simply back concrete trucks up and finish the walls to ease the manpower needed next time it rains...
hmmmmmm
Sigh.
May God have mercy on all of a kind heart & all who Love Him.
Oh please. Relax.
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