(05-02-2011 10:21 AM)homefry20 Wrote: [ -> ]http://www.dailyimpact.net/2011/04/28/mi...lypse-now/
I read this column last night. Rivers do what they want and cannot be controlled by man. If this does happen, the city of New Orleans is toast.
I was interested until I saw him hawking his book. That doesn't mean that he is wrong, but it does mean that he has a vested interest. However, it's interesting to read, thanks for posting it, and yeah, if he's right, New Orleans is outta here.
I thought it was a complete crock until I read it all the way through and then looked at the area in question via Google Earth. The channel is already available but the man-made levees on the current channel are preventing it from changing course. With all of this water and silt, the river could overcome those and take over the current "old river" bed and empty at Morgan City 85 miles west of NOLA.
This excessive moving of threads during the offseason is ridiculous.
(05-02-2011 10:30 AM)homefry20 Wrote: [ -> ]I thought it was a complete crock until I read it all the way through and then looked at the area in question via Google Earth. The channel is already available but the man-made levees on the current channel are preventing it from changing course. With all of this water and silt, the river could overcome those and take over the current "old river" bed and empty at Morgan City 85 miles west of NOLA.
Where such powerful natural forces are at work, such as the Mississippi River, I take nothing for granted. My only caveat was that this guy seems to be patting himself on the back. It's definitely a frightening scenario, though. People have tried controlling rivers since the dawn of recorded history, but it seems like hubris to try and force the Mississippi to do something it does not want to do, and I hope like hell we don't pay for it with disaster.
(05-02-2011 10:50 AM)TigerBill Wrote: [ -> ] (05-02-2011 10:30 AM)homefry20 Wrote: [ -> ]I thought it was a complete crock until I read it all the way through and then looked at the area in question via Google Earth. The channel is already available but the man-made levees on the current channel are preventing it from changing course. With all of this water and silt, the river could overcome those and take over the current "old river" bed and empty at Morgan City 85 miles west of NOLA.
Where such powerful natural forces are at work, such as the Mississippi River, I take nothing for granted. My only caveat was that this guy seems to be patting himself on the back. It's definitely a frightening scenario, though. People have tried controlling rivers since the dawn of recorded history, but it seems like hubris to try and force the Mississippi to do something it does not want to do, and I hope like hell we don't pay for it with disaster.
Its really not a big deal unless the river shifts course and delivers 90% or more of the flow to the Old River channel. If it changes course and dredges a new channel then the former channel can still be navigable. If it does desert the original channel then it will become a bayou and New Orleans will be cutoff from the rest of the MS River.
Apparently the Old River was the primary channel up until right before the settlement of New Orleans. With the Old River Basin lying at a lower level than the current MS Basin, an intense flood will allow the river to explore diverting into this channel once again.
(05-02-2011 11:19 AM)homefry20 Wrote: [ -> ] (05-02-2011 10:50 AM)TigerBill Wrote: [ -> ] (05-02-2011 10:30 AM)homefry20 Wrote: [ -> ]I thought it was a complete crock until I read it all the way through and then looked at the area in question via Google Earth. The channel is already available but the man-made levees on the current channel are preventing it from changing course. With all of this water and silt, the river could overcome those and take over the current "old river" bed and empty at Morgan City 85 miles west of NOLA.
Where such powerful natural forces are at work, such as the Mississippi River, I take nothing for granted. My only caveat was that this guy seems to be patting himself on the back. It's definitely a frightening scenario, though. People have tried controlling rivers since the dawn of recorded history, but it seems like hubris to try and force the Mississippi to do something it does not want to do, and I hope like hell we don't pay for it with disaster.
Its really not a big deal unless the river shifts course and delivers 90% or more of the flow to the Old River channel. If it changes course and dredges a new channel then the former channel can still be navigable. If it does desert the original channel then it will become a bayou and New Orleans will be cutoff from the rest of the MS River.
Apparently the Old River was the primary channel up until right before the settlement of New Orleans. With the Old River Basin lying at a lower level than the current MS Basin, an intense flood will allow the river to explore diverting into this channel once again.
Pretty interesting stuff. It also reminded me that a long time ago, at least 15 years, I bought a huge cache of old Corps of Engineers maps of the Mississippi at a garage sale. Some of them go back to the 1800s. I'd forgotten all about them.
I bet those are nice to have, especially now.
Do you think they will blow the levee in Mizzou to relieve the city of Cairo? Lots of battling going on there since it would flood nearly 200,000 acres of farmland and small towns in southern Mizzou.
(05-02-2011 11:30 AM)homefry20 Wrote: [ -> ]I bet those are nice to have, especially now.
Do you think they will blow the levee in Mizzou to relieve the city of Cairo? Lots of battling going on there since it would flood nearly 200,000 acres of farmland and small towns in southern Mizzou.
Oh yeah they'll blow them. Hell, it's in the law that was passed in 1928. The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few, or the one.
(05-02-2011 11:30 AM)homefry20 Wrote: [ -> ]I bet those are nice to have, especially now.
Do you think they will blow the levee in Mizzou to relieve the city of Cairo? Lots of battling going on there since it would flood nearly 200,000 acres of farmland and small towns in southern Mizzou.
Wednesday, I believe.
The land that will be flooded has been in a flood easement for almost a century. Those people knew what they were buying.
So they have made the determination that it will be done or is it still speculative?
The biggest opposition is at the state level for obvious reasons. Blowing the levee screws Mizzou and not blowing it screw Illinois. But as you said, that land has been in a flood easement zone for 73 years. I doubt much of that land is still owned by many that had it their family prior to this act.
Are they going to film that ****? Id love to see it in action.
(05-02-2011 01:13 PM)homefry20 Wrote: [ -> ]So they have made the determination that it will be done or is it still speculative?
The biggest opposition is at the state level for obvious reasons. Blowing the levee screws Mizzou and not blowing it screw Illinois. But as you said, that land has been in a flood easement zone for 73 years. I doubt much of that land is still owned by many that had it their family prior to this act.
Are they going to film that ****? Id love to see it in action.
From a phone conversation with someone in the ops center here in Memphis. It will be done. For some reason, they want to wait until the rainfall moves out. The levee section was built with tubes to lower the explosives in to blow it. No doubt the explosion will be much less dramatic than hoped for, but the moving water should be impressive.
I bet a chopper crew out of St. Louis flies down to video it.
Especially if they are waiting for the weather to subside. I also heard that the Wednesday plan was also because it takes a full day to load the explosive material into the tubes. Either way, I hope someone catches it on film. Watching the water cover the entire section of the bootheel will be dramatic within itself.