2011 Mississippi River Spring Floods

[cjr3888]

_ In reality, in addition to fueling the country and helping to feed it...we also serve as its drainage ditch.

igeaux.mobi _

That's a comment we can all agree on.

[Bandwagon King]

_ That's a comment we can all agree on. _

I want to tip my cap to the Corp of Engineers. I have been up & down the lower Atchafalaya the past couple of weeks. I have been to the Calumet Cut at the Teche locks. I have been to Butte Larose, Baton Rouge, & the Morganza spillway. There are two things I'm now pretty sure of.

One is someone is going to lose over the next three weeks. The other is the Corps is going to get the blame for it. The truth is the Corps did what they had to do because they had to do it. There was no other choice. I have heard people say they should have been opening flood gates & draining water for weeks. This would have been a terrible move. This would have already filled the emergency bath tub known as the Morganza floodway instead of forcing jillions of gallons into the GOM the way it should have gone. By them allowing the levees to take as much water as possible before opening up the spillway, they may have saved all of South Louisiana from total destruction.

The object of the game as I see it is to keep the lower Mississippi in its banks & not allow it to make its own new flow path to the GOM. If the river were to overrun its banks, let's say around Donaldsonville, It would most likely flood everything between Belle Chase & Morgan City La. with about 7' of water. This would displace several hundred thousand residents. If the Mississippi overruns it's banks in Baton Rouge it will displace up to half a million residents in Baton Rouge into Gonzales.

I now see why the Corps waited. With the river at it's present level, they can divert the water down the spillway & maintain the levee system they have. They have forced the most water possible to the GOM first allowing the existing river sytem to handle what it could, then using the Bonnie Carrie system to carry what it could, & finally the Morganza is going to do it's job.

I am still very concerned for the people of Morgan City & the Patterson area, because I believe they will be put to the biggest test of anyone in about 10 days. I don't think a lot of them understand what danger they could be in & by the time they find out it could be too late for a normal standard evacuation by automobile.

I have seen the people in Butte Larose working to remove all their belongings, Many of them leaving their homes. I hope the best for you, & I hope you are the ones mad at the corps for scaring the bejesus out of everyone without you guys losing anything. I think in the end though, you will be glad you paid heed. This was an act of God handled by the best man could handle it.

[NewsCopy]

In a history out Wednesday that traces the true complexity of this multi-parish area of south Louisiana, scholar Brasseaux takes ... "Lizzie Walks on the Wild Side") does a jig, lizard-style. Lafayette storyteller and author Smith will read from the ...

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[NewsCopy]

Louisiana Agriculture and Forestry Commissioner Mike Strain ... to eight inches of air space between them and the water back in 73,” said Davis, 58, from Lafayette. “I have been coming out here all my life and it’s coming up,” Davis said as he ...

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[NewsCopy]

Cajuns are descendants of French-speakers who fled Acadia, an area covering what is now Canada's Maritime provinces and northern Maine in the US, as the British took control in the 18th century. In the nearby community of Stephensville, rows of sandbags ...

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[NewsCopy]

HENDERSON, Louisiana - Army Corps of Engineers workers opened more floodgates at the Morganza Spillway in Louisiana Sunday, just upriver from New Orleans, bringing the total to four. They're diverting millions of gallons per minute into the Atchafalaya ...

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[biged05]

Thanks king!! It really helps to know some people out there get it. I've had a long couple weeks and these last two days were really long! And to quote our Lt. Col. From this morning "It's only the beginning!"

Yeah some people blame us for a lot, but you learn early to let it roll off your back and do what you know is the right thing to do in your own mind. I know this really sucks to see people lose their homes and way of life, and I know first hand from family and friends, but this is what it is designed for and we have to follow the laws that are in place.

I don't think we will get hammered to hard this time, at least not by the majority (although if we would have chose another plan I don't think that would be the case), and I have to say all the mayors, parish presidents, sheriff's staff, etc. That I've dealt with thus far have been very cooperative and understanding which is more than I can say for others I've dealt with in the past.
igeaux.mobi

[Hammer58]

BigEd, am I reading the maps the CoE published correctly that the water will stop at the western levees that run along Portage Levee Road east of Arnaudville? Just curious if we have to worry about our rifle range (Fusellier Range) out there flooding?

[CajunRed]

BigEd...thanks for your updates as this has progressed. We are all looking forward to ongoing info as more developments take place.

You guys have done all you can to make the best of a terrible situation.

Thanks!


igeaux.mobi

[HelmutVII]

_ BigEd, am I reading the maps the CoE published correctly that the water will stop at the western levees that run along Portage Levee Road east of Arnaudville? Just curious if we have to worry about our rifle range (Fusellier Range) out there flooding? _

If your range is west of the levees then you should have no problems unless the levees fail. If the levees fail then your rifle range flooding will be the least thing you will have to worry about.

[NewsCopy]

As the Lafayette resident was filling sandbags to build a temporary ... The corps has no current plan to open additional gates, the agency said. The river system in Louisiana "is under tremendous pressure and it is going to be under tremendous pressure ...

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[NewsCopy]

Deputies all over Louisiana Cajun country were warning residents to head ... That choice angers John Muse, who drove from Lafayette to Melville to help his 86-year-old father-in-law Clovis Cole move his belongs. He said officials seem to be paying more ...

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