Mon
Apr 7 2008
06:50 am
Louisiana: Mississippi river rising
By: bizgrrl

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has increased its surveillance of Louisiana's Mississippi River levees as the swollen river continues to rise.
...
"We don't expect any problems in the (levee) system," he said.

Hah! Sad to say, the Army Corps of Engineers has lost a lot of credibility. I pray the levees hold and there are no problems in Louisiana. However, the Corps of Engineers doing their "job" probably doesn't give much confidence to the citizens of that area.

Topics:
Bird_dog's picture

the River will win

Submitted by Bird_dog on Mon, 2008/04/07 - 10:44am.

The river is undermining the levees in spite of the Corps efforts. It wants to go down the Atchafalaya which would wash away Morgan City and dry up New Orleans and hurt the refiners around Baton Rouge. PBS has had documentaries that have me convinced that, sooner or later, the Big Muddy will have it's way with us.

Hayduke's picture

Tempting Fate: Why We Insist on Living in Floodplains

Submitted by Hayduke on Mon, 2008/04/07 - 11:49am.

[i]It's been fifteen years since the Great Flood of 1993 put this land under 10 feet of water. Since then, thousands of acres of floodplain in the St. Louis area have been built up with strip malls, office and industrial parks, and 28,000 new homes. And all this infrastructure depends on miles and miles of levees to hold back the Mississippi and Missouri rivers the next time they try to retake the land.[/i]

(link...)

They're going to break. Sooner is probably better. Maybe we can re-think this whole scheme.

Bird_dog's picture

Just declare that it is not a floodplain.

Submitted by Bird_dog on Mon, 2008/04/07 - 3:16pm.

(link...)

PBS aired a documentary "The Water's Edge" about building on floodplains in TX & LA - a matter of public policy. When builders pressured local governments to reclassify floodplains, they did so for the additional tax revenues. Don't we have some local issues along Broadway involving reclassifying a 100-yr floodplain?

bizgrrl's picture

It is my understanding that

Submitted by bizgrrl on Mon, 2008/04/07 - 4:42pm.

It is my understanding that the powers that be have no problem with building on 100-yr flood plains.

Rachel's picture

If I understand correctly,

Submitted by Rachel on Mon, 2008/04/07 - 5:25pm.

If I understand correctly, in Knoxville, you can build in a 100 year floodplain (if the floor elevation is above the 100 year flood level). You can't build in the floodway.

I'll doublecheck that with the spouse this evening.

Comment viewing options

Select your preferred way to display the comments and click "Save settings" to activate your changes.

TN Progressive

TN Politics

Knox TN Today

Local TV News

News Sentinel

    State News

    Wire Reports

    Lost Medicaid Funding

    To date, the failure to expand Medicaid/TennCare has cost the State of Tennessee ? in lost federal funding. (Source)

    Search and Archives