Corps to Open Spillway on Saturday, Jindal Says

Source: AP

LAKE PROVIDENCE, La. (AP) -- Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal says federal officials have been given approval to open a Louisiana spillway as early as Saturday to avert a Mississippi River disaster in places like Baton Rouge and New Orleans.

Jindal said Friday that the Army Corps of Engineers had received permission to open the Morganza spillway for the first time in 38 years to relieve pressure on river levees. The corps says it will open the spillway when the river flow reaches a certain point, but an exact timing wasn't known. However, that flow rate is expected
to happen Saturday.

Sheriffs and National Guardsmen will warn people in a door-to-door sweep through the area, Jindal said. In addition to the 2,500 people living inside the spillway, there are 22,500 people and 11,000 structures in the backwater areas that could be flooded.

If the spillway had remained closed and the levees had failed, New Orleans could have been under as much as 20 feet of water.


Read more: http://www.weather.com/outlook/weather-news/news/articles/natchez-ms-flood-record_2011-05-12?onloadedmetadata=null&oninput=null&onabort=null&oncanplay=null&onsuspend=null&onpause=null&onratechange=null&onstalled=null&illegal codenull&illegal codenull&onchange

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I wonder if the ACOE and the politicians will ever accept that it is time to let the Mississippi do what it wants to do: go WEST, into the Red River.

Here's some solid background history, facts and graphs:

http://www.swmm2000.com/profiles/blogs/is-this-the-big-one-the-flood?xg_source=activity

The possibility that the Morganza cannot be reclosed is exactly why they are reluctant to use it. The river does want to go that way, and if it does, Baton Rouge and New Orleans would be cut off. So would all the shipping infrastructure on the lower Mississippi. The economic disruption alone would be devastating, and felt nationally. But you are correct, a longer term strategy needs to be implemented to deal with the many problems caused by our current flood control measures.

Fascinating article on civil engineering.
The problems started when Mr. Shreve decided to cut off the loop in the river.
If that didn't start the problem, it set the stage for the current situation.

And the writer claims that the warmer climate is causing more rain in the Mississippi Valley. Note that the Ohio River at Cincinnati, Ohio was at bankful last month.

How did a cut connecting the 2 eastern parts of the system - the Mississippi above it, and the Mississippi below it - "increase the flow of water out of the Mississippi and into the Atchafalaya", ie to the western outflow?

And Shreve's cut actually enabled the Mississippi to split its flow. Most of the river flowed to New Orleans, but a bit of it started flowing out the Atchafalaya.

The loads of sediment would start to build up deposits and somehow make the Atchafalaya River into a better outlet. It certainly had a better gradient. They even built a hydroelectric plant on it.

That's how I understand it.

"By 1500 the loop had changed, and then by 1831 had invaded the Red River."

http://3.bp.blogspot.com.nyud.net:8080/-9cnQAWC9Yp0/TcOIA0fq2lI/AAAAAAAAUZA/NiAy20geYFM/s320/1831%2BShreve%2Bcutoff.jpg

The Mississippi was already able to flow partly down the Atchafalaya, because before the cut, it flowed entirely west along the section marked 'upper mouth' in the drawing you gave, joined the Red River, and the joint channel then split into the Atchafalaya and the 'lower mouth' (which was the Mississippi flowing east again). With the cut bypassing the upper mouth and lower mouth, you'd think there would be less westward flow along the upper mouth, and thus less water available to go down the Atchafalaya.

Write him. I can tell he gets excited about this stuff.

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for the resulting floods. Any takers?

Well, it certainly won't be an "act of God"----He's always on the Republican's side. :sarcasm:

Some engineers think they've made a long series of strategic blunders.

US engineers are preparing to flood up to three million acres in southern Louisiana in a bid to protect large cities along the Mississippi River.

The Army Corps of Engineers said it would open floodgates to divert water from the river this weekend. As many as 25,000 people are preparing to leave.

Opening the Morganza Spillway would ease pressure on levees protecting the cities of Baton Rouge and New Orleans.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-13393039

tough decision but what do you do.....

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/prairies/manitoba-goes-ahead-with-deliberate-flooding-south-of-assiniboine-river/article2022319/

Machines have broken through a dike holding back the Assiniboine River to deliberately flood a swath of land in southern Manitoba.

The controlled release southeast of Portage la Prairie is expected to flood 225 square kilometres and could affect at least 150 houses. People in the area have been frantically sandbagging around the clock as officials postponed the release a number of times this week in the hope it wouldn’t be necessary.