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Quote:
Originally Posted by CharlieK
ORCS is passing 543000 CFS as of this morning. Bonnet Carre is opened but not all the way. Correct on Morganza.
The storm that dumped a Blizzard on Denver Wednesday into Thursday is now dumping rain and snow in the upper midwest and is not helping things at all. Fortunately the Mississippi river is stabilizing at Vicksburg and stations south. they are predicting the river to start receding on about the 21st of March. We shall see.
Is the max design thru ORCS still 620,000? Or is it more now with the hydro plant?Quote:
Originally Posted by HelmutVII
Flooded poor black farmers in Plaqumine and St Bernard Parishes.
White privileged
Found it, max design discharge at ORCS is 700,000 cfs
https://www.mvn.usace.army.mil/Porta...olBrochure.pdf
"The Cooper Nuclear Station lies just downstream of Nebraska City, and the nuclear power plant is expected to close this weekend due to high flood waters on the Missouri River. The plant was able to stay open during the record 2011 flood, so this may be the first time the plant is closed for flooding."
Not good.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">More <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Ulmer?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Ulmer</a> aftermath. There used to be a bridge across the Niobrara river here. It was one of at least four bridges across the Niobrara that were destroyed/compromised. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/icejams?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#icejams</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/nebraskaflooding?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#nebraskaflooding</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/flooding?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#flooding</a> <a href="https://t.co/w7TbxqsoNf">pic.twitter.com/w7TbxqsoNf</a></p>— Myra Hipke Richardson (@NEmyrich) <a href="https://twitter.com/NEmyrich/status/1106568477907869696?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 15, 2019</a></blockquote>
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">The amount of ice piled along the shore is unbelievable. That's my 6' cousin standing there, and it's probably twice as tall on the back side. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Ulmer?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Ulmer</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/nebraskaflooding?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#nebraskaflooding</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Nebraska?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Nebraska</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/icejam?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#icejam</a> <a href="https://t.co/QWKcXONIJw">pic.twitter.com/QWKcXONIJw</a></p>— Myra Hipke Richardson (@NEmyrich) <a href="https://twitter.com/NEmyrich/status/1106569376365457408?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 15, 2019</a></blockquote>
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">We walked about 1/4 mile around ice like this to get to the river. There are acres of it piled in the trees and on the road. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/nebraskaflooding?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#nebraskaflooding</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/icejam?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#icejam</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Nebraska?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Nebraska</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/ice?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#ice</a> <a href="https://t.co/xD2CrsBMtw">pic.twitter.com/xD2CrsBMtw</a></p>— Myra Hipke Richardson (@NEmyrich) <a href="https://twitter.com/NEmyrich/status/1106570027543736321?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 15, 2019</a></blockquote>
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That's a he'll of a lot of ice. It's going to melt one day and all that water will come through the Mississippi.
Bridge floating away in NE
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=HQlWY_COvuk
I had to drive back from Plaquemine on Friday and took the "back way" through Pierre Part and Morgan City due to that I-10 closure. Never been back that way but waterways like the Avoca Island Cutoff were swollen to the point they was lying water on the roadways.
The Mississippi river at Vicksburg is down about 0.3 foot in the last three or four days. Baton Ruoge is holding steady. They are prdictiong the river to continue to recede at Vicksburg until March 30. We shall see.
The entire length of the Mississippi river is above flood stage. This includes those areas where snow melt has not started.
Some roads are closed due to high water in lower St. Martin parish.
.......So now what? Gates open ? What happened to the receding that was happening? Thanks so much for filling us in with the info!!!Quote:
Originally Posted by HelmutVII
The water is holding steady and is predicted to recede. Morganza gates will be opened only when the conditions warrant.Quote:
Originally Posted by Boomer
https://www.forbes.com/sites/marshal.../#7bbc97e950a8
A good article that explains the cascade of events that led to the flooding in the Mid-West and may contribute to our issues in the lower Mississippi.
Don't get nervous ya snowflakes, they don't mention anthropogenic climate change.
These quotes caught my eye...Quote:
Originally Posted by snote
Quote:
In 1900, around 5 percent of the water from the Red River and the upper Mississippi was going down the Atchafalaya; by the 1950s, the Atchafalaya was collecting about 30 percent, said Tulane University professor Mead Allison, director of physical processes and sediment systems at the Water Institute in Baton Rouge.
Had the trend been allowed to continue, the Atchafalaya would have become the predominant path of the Mississippi River by the 1970s or 1980s, Allison said.
What Barnett calls the most extreme proposal is actually the most practical. We've seen the warning signs. Will we ignore them? What will the next generation think of us when the story of how 100,000 people drowned gets told because we stuck our heads in the mud?Quote:
The most extreme proposal he’s heard is to allow the Mississippi River to adopt the Atchafalaya channel, but to use tools like the control structure to make sure the switch happens in a gradual, scheduled way. Barnett emphasized that he is not advocating that path, though it would put an end to the Corps’ “arms race with mother nature.”
I think they need to understand the significance of salt water intrusion up the Mississippi River up to Baton rouge (Possibly). This should not be underestimated as the amount of coastal erosion would be extreme. The salt water would kill all, what is now, native vegetation and result in bare soil that would easily erode. Also, the cities that rely on the Mississippi for drinking water would have to modify their water treatment plants to remove salt from the water.Quote:
Originally Posted by CajunNation
No doubts about all of that Helmut, but either we start the process now so that plans can be made and decisions discussed ad nauseum about a controlled course change or we dredge the entire Mississippi River.Quote:
Originally Posted by HelmutVII
We are past the time of trying to tame the river. It is letting us know this every year. When will we listen?
See the image below for an over view of the ORCS/ Morganza complex. ORCS complex is in the upper portion of the image and is located by a push pin. It consists of three structures. Starting upstream there is the hydro power plant, the low sill structure (this is where they had the failure during the 1973 event) and the Auxiliary Structure. These three structures discharge to a channel heading west. This channel forms a "tee" at the location where the Red River Ends and the Atchafalaya river begins. A little further downstream on the Mississippi River are the Old River Locks. This is where navigation between the Mississippi and the Atchafalaya takes place. Further downstream on the Mississippi at the middle of the bottom of the photo is the Morganza spillway. This is where a majority of the water is diverted during a flood event.
This location is where prehistory and history took place. It is also a place where history might be written. We may live to see it, maybe not. If the ORCS fails I would think that Simmsport would be a good place not to be. Just sayin.
This is a close up of the ORCS complex, Red River and Atchafalaya River area.
Fascinating
In addition to the 3 structures you listed would be the Overbank Structure located between the Low Sill and the Hydro Plant. It's a similar structure to Bonnet Carre with a fixed sill elevation and needles to be manipulated to allow maximum flow.Quote:
Originally Posted by HelmutVII
In addition to Simmesport are also Melville and Krotz Springs which are protected somewhat by ring levees, however any major threat to them would happen only after a failure of the west Atchafalaya River levee as they are all outside of the Morganza Floodway. Not a good place to be anyway as you say.
You are correct. I figured you would add additional information that I may have left out, thanks. Below is a closer image of the ORCS complex. It goes without saying the fifth element in the ORCS complex are the levees.Quote:
Originally Posted by mahtoo
Below is a Google Image of the area just north of the ORCS complex. It shows many Ox Bow lakes, and Ox Bow scars of previous paths of either the Red or Mississippi rivers.
Spring Outlook from NOAA
https://www.noaa.gov/media-release/s...ue-through-may