Army Corps battles rising Mississippi from Memphis to New Orleans

[Keith Bee]

Source: CNN.com

New Orleans (CNN) -- Waging war against flooding of historic proportions that has already affected thousands of people in eight Midwestern and Southern states, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers opened a spillway Monday north of New Orleans in an effort to calm the rising Mississippi River.

A crowd gathered near the entrance to the Bonnet Carre spillway to watch workers using cranes slide open the gates to the flood control system, which was built beginning in 1929 after a devastating flood two years before. The spillway, like another that could be opened next week, is designed to divert floodwater away from New Orleans and slow the raging river to protect the low-lying city.

Upstream in Memphis, Tennessee, residents and authorities anxiously waited for the Mississippi to crest at a near-record 14 feet above flood stage.

And in between, their counterparts in Mississippi and Louisiana continued to prepare for the flooding under the protection of a system of levees and floodgates that Corps' officials said were holding up well considering the unprecedented pressure they are enduring.

Read more: http://www.cnn.com/2011/US/05/09/midwest.flooding/index.html?hpt=T1

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Ah, for those halcyon days when the National Guard and Army Corps always did stuff like this, in the country, benefitting the country.

[jwirr]

1. The flooding is serious but it is ironic that the Army Corps is doing

the work. Years ago the AC would have projects along the river that changed to course, etc. Back then many of us blamed them for the increased flooding in those areas. Wonder if we were right back then or if we just did not like change?

[LiberalFighter]

2. What happened to the small / less government idea?

Aren't most of those states overflowing with those type of critters with that type of thought process?

[defendandprotect]

3. Primary issue -- Global Warming and increasing catastrophes ---

[Chris_Texas]

4. Not even close.

Some liberals blame everything on global warming the way some republicans blame everything on "the gays."

It's called weather. We get these epic floods every few decades. It's not global warming. It's not the wrath of god. It's not an allignment of jupiter and neptune. It just happens.

[defendandprotect]

5. Dream on --

:eyes: