This is Butte La Rose. That is the Atchafalaya River a distributary of the Mississippi. This is where the water is diverted so it won't flood Baton Rouge and New Orleans.
yitbos
Posted on 05/10/2011 10:12:16 PM PDT by chemicalman
BUTTE LAROSE, La. |
Ripples of fear rose Tuesday along the normally placid bayous of the Atchafalaya basin, the corridor through which a torrent of surging water could be unleashed if authorities decide in coming days to ease the strain on Mississippi River levees by opening the Morganza Spillway northwest of Baton Rouge.
(Excerpt) Read more at theledger.com ...
Is this the water project called “Old River”? I read about it years ago in a book by John McPhee. Fascinating stuff.
The idiot classic rock station I listen to played *When The Levee Breaks* by Led Zeppelin twice today.
Neverf rains but it pours!
Is New Orleans going to flood again because of this volume of water coming down the Mississippi and cresting? Is this what everyone is afraid of?
Never mind, it’s a separate water project. Prayers for you guys!!
I think the biggest fear I’ve read of is that the river is going to decide where it locates itself to rather than the idea man has had the past 100 years?
I’m not an expert but the water in the Mississippi wants to divert into the Atchafalaya Basin. Usually they keep it mainly in the original channel, but they are planning to let a good deal of the water go there. So many industries exist in that part of the country that someone will be hurt. Not only by flooding of buildings, but by flushing out the tidal water with fresh water, hurting the fishing industry. No one is happy with how much/little water they get in their area. John McPhee wrote a piece about it years ago - I think you can find it on the internet.
Only one aspect... and not likely to happen if the water is diverted, but there are communities all around those bayous and the Spillway. They’d have to be evacuated, and of course anyone without flood insurance that was in the path of the Miss. as it’s being diverted, well....
http://www.newyorker.com/archive/1987/02/23/1987_02_23_039_TNY_CARDS_000347146
Song was stuck in my head all day, and I haven’t heard it on the radio.
Thank you.
This is Butte La Rose. That is the Atchafalaya River a distributary of the Mississippi. This is where the water is diverted so it won't flood Baton Rouge and New Orleans.
yitbos
Boy, I sure hope they know what they're doing. That's a lot of water coming down the Mississippi.
More info here:
http://www.nola.com/news/index.ssf/2011/05/projects_show_morganza_spillwa.html
and here:
http://www.thenewsstar.com/article/20110510/NEWS01/105100316
Should have played Randy Newman's "Louisiana".
What has happened down here is the wind have changed
Clouds roll in from the north and it start to rain
Rained real hard and rained for a real long time
Six feet of water in the streets of Evangeline
The river rose all day
The river rose all night
Some people got lost in the flood
Some people got away alright
The river have busted through clear down to Plaquemines
Six feet of water in the streets of Evangeline.
CHORUS
Louisiana, Louisiana
They're tyrin' to wash us away
They're tryin' to wash us away
Louisiana, Louisiana
They're tryin' to wash us away
They're tryin' to wash us away
President Coolidge came down in a railroad train
With a little fat man with a note-pad in his hand
The President say, "Little fat man isn't it a shame what the river has done
To this poor crackers land.
CHORUS
“Should have played Randy Newman’s “Louisiana”.”
A truly great song.
The thing is "the river was expected to crest at 64 feet . . .". Of course this depends on location and the width between the levees.
In the whole of Louisiana, the levees are usually the highest ground. Heck a tide of 10 feet floods half the state.
Now, can the Atchafalaya, itself, handle some flow without flooding?
If they have to open the Morganza spillway, not a chance.
And we'e talking more water than 1973. That almost destroyed Morgan City.
Thibodaux is barely 7 feet above sea level. What are they growing down there? Rice, beans?
yitbos
Port Gibson..one of my favorite towns along 61.
The “Corpse” of Engineers can manage that for you; just ask the Missouri farmers.
Friends in Vidalia have moved many of their possessions to Natchez. Unfortunately, I understand that only about a third of the people in Vidalia have Flood Insurance. Very sad situation.
I knew a guy who inherited some land in the Sacramento CA delta.
The levies there are nearly certain to fail in the next few years, they are scarcely maintained at all.
He liked the land he got, practically on the river.
Knowing the levee situation he cam up with a SIMPLE answer!
He built a barge with a nice little cottage sitting on it.
The barge acts as his basement and storage space.
The cottage is nicer than the average tract home.
It sits on the ground, but if the levee breaks it will float up without harm.
He will have to disconnect from the water and electric, but he has storage tanks and a generator.
The barge is well anchored, with plenty of chain to keep it in place.
If I lived in a “Spillway” I think I would take this guy as an example of superior planning.
Thanks. I love John McPhee. I have been reading this article for hours, and I’m still not done. This is really good stuff. It makes me very afraid for the people living near that river.
I was reading about the old river project the other day and one thing I noticed was they are more than concerned that if the old river structures are undermined that the Mississippi will make a permanent change in course down the Atchafalaya that will be impossible to change.
Thanks for the link! The article is well worth reading again.
It would be so easy to sabotage those flimsy levees and cause a huge amount of economic damage to the Delta and downstream cities and farms. It’s a crying shame how they have been so mismanaged. Course that’s California we are talking about.
If the land along the river were unowned (and if flood insurance didn’t pay to rebuild structures in severe flood plains repeatedly), maybe engineers could in some places dig diversion basins or form double levees to contain the excess water in flood years - but maybe the amount of water is so immense that at certain times it will flood everything. The water table has to be about two feet below the surface in a lot of areas so a diversion lake probably would fill up in no time. I presume it’s hard to build quarries or other big excavation projects.
Sounds like a very smart man.
He did a really cool story/book on the subject of oranges, too. He made oranges interesting.
... the U.S. taxpayer will pick up the tab, because in today's America you aren't allowed to suffer the consequences of your decisions.
In 1927 the Corps of Engineers blew 1500’ of levee south of New Orleans to lower the pressure/level upstream. I wonder if they are looking at something like this again?
That is very clever and flood insurance not necessary.
Let’s see—another crisis—how can 0 benefit?
Watch out!
No — in today’s America you aren’t allowed to suffer the consequences of your decisions. UNLESS YOU LIVE IN TEXAS wildfire areas.
The Corp learned their lesson and build a spillway south of New Orleans. There is quite a history behind that spillway.
yitbos
Someday the Mississippi will flow down the Atchafalaya again.
Maybe this year?
Tomorrow?
Read an interesting factoid about the Old River Control Structure.
Evidently, the worry is more about its base/foundation being undermined at the riverbed level.
yitbos
I am worried about all the “swamp people” that make their homes there. Will those houses be under water, like in Houma, LA? It seems to me like if they open the Morganza spillway it will flood all the swamp land. Also, I would like to know if it will wash away all the fish and vegetation, wildlife, gators? I am curious.
Thanks.
The river will do what it wills, regardless of the machinations of the Corps of Engineers.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.