2019 Mississippi River

[BeauCajun]

Went to New Orleans today and I took I10 on the return home. When traveling westbound on 10 across the Pontchartrain, I noticed there was a rush of water coming from the South/left. Assuming that was coming from the MS River??

That will be stopping in the next couple of days. They are closing the bays at Bonnet Carre.

[CajunEXPRESS]

There’s a lotta good landfill in that floodway. Somehow someone thought that they should put the new NOLA airport smack dab in the middle of the spillway. Luckily that plan never took flight.

[cajun67]

There's a lotta good landfill in that floodway. Somehow someone thought that they should put the new NOLA airport smack dab in the middle of the spillway. Luckily that plan never took flight.

Used that good spillway "sand" for 31 years to fill my sinking Metairie yard. So nice not to do that now!! Love me some Lafayette. And my 32 foot slab elevation. Don't miss being below sea level for a slab elevation at all.

[CajunAmos]

Caught crawfish, crabbed, fished, relaxed at the boat club or water skied in the "suction" along with huntingdove, quail, and snipe in that spillway.

[cajun67]

Oh yeah I forgot, If you live in a parish or county that is adjacent to the Gulf of Mexico, I would buy flood insurance. Almost every drainage channel adjacent to the gulf is influenced by tides. If it is influenced by tides then it is probably subject to storm surge. Even some portions of extreme south Lafayette Parish could be subject to storm surge.

The best description of a form to fill out to determine if you need flood protection is to look at your driver's license. If it says Louisiana, buy flood insurance.

I have and will continue to buy flood insurance. I don't go by flood maps (100 years floods have up to a 30% plus chance of occurring in any year & a 1000 year flood has just under a 3% chance of occurring in any year). Don't like those odds for a few hundred dollars. Our biggest issues remain terrible zoning/development standards in our drainages. Still use each development as a stand alone impact. Best hope for supplying good info for our future development is using the skills of hydrologists at our Universities and firms and paying for data gathering systems that will make the models viable. UL Civil Engr has two really good folks to do this. We'll see if they are supported by the state. That's where the money is for now. Also, we are blessed with a number of firms who can do good hydrology work.

[Cajun90]

I've spent a good bit of time through the years on vacation or working in Colorado. The Big Thompson canyon flood is something that probably got me interested in weather and floods. I was in the canyon only a few weeks prior to the '76 flood. I've been back numerous times. When you talk about flash floods nothing tops Big Thompson as far as I know. There are actually signs in the canyon that say if you hear the flood sirens go off stop your vehicle and start climbing...…

Point being you don't have to be at sea level or next to a major river to have devastating flood events.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_Thompson_River

[ZoomZoom]

ORS today. Could not get angle to clearly show the flow. Worth the drive. Saw multiple dump trucks in area, running 2 or 3 together. Did not see actual drop offs happening.

[ZoomZoom]

Second shot

[ZoomZoom]

Best shot I could get of flow

[ZoomZoom]

Simmsport Lock, levee against office area.

[ZoomZoom]

Morganza bald eagle nest on west side.

[ZoomZoom]

East side. There is an area where rock was brought in against LA 1 on east side but cannot stop on roadway to get photo.

[billbeck451]

the damage is already done, the salt content at Bay St Louis was .03 last week when it should be .12-.15. The fish spawn is shot and it has killed all of the remaining oyster beds for at least the next couple of years. The shrimp have been moved from the area by all of the polluted fresh water that is flowing through. Once again Louisiana has killed Mississippi just to save the fisheries west of the Mississippi.

[HelmutVII]

Looks like there is another storm off of the Pacific Coast and may be moving inland over the next few days. They will probably open the gates on the Oroville dam spillway next week some time. This is the spillway that failed a couple of years ago. They spent over 1.1 Billion dollars to repair it over a two year period.

http://www.parks.ca.gov/live/lakeorovillesra_spillway

[Ragin4U]

Looks like there is another storm off of the Pacific Coast and may be moving inland over the next few days. They will probably open the gates on the Oroville dam spillway next week some time. This is the spillway that failes a couple of years ago. They spent over 1.1 Billion dollars to repair it over a two year period.

http://www.parks.ca.gov/live/lakeorovillesra_spillway

Aaannddd its raining there. BTW that is a massive structure.