Lost in the bin Laden killing, fake birth certificates and who got kicked off the dance floor is the heavy rains that will soon threaten Memphis and other down stream cities with likely historic levels of the Mississippi. This is the forecast for the river gauge at Memphis. The record set in 1937 is 48.7 feet. Seneca
The Corps of Engineers has been blowing out levees up river to protect towns downriver, causing the loss of hundrds of homes and potential contamination of farmland. Needless to say, this Sophie's Choice policy is not popular with those who are deliberately flooded.
A possibly historic event may happen in the next few weeks at a place few know of: The Old River Control Structure, where a Corps of Engineers project keeps the Mississippi in its present channel flowing to Baton Rouge and New Orleans. Without this structure, the main channel of the Mississippi would flow through the Atchafalaya and drown the American Carcassone Morgan City, La. The current channel would become a lagoon with drastic consequences to the economy of Baton Rouge--New Orleans. In the flood of 1973, this structure nearly failed. The current flood will again test man vs. nature. If nature wins, the consequences will be great. " Researcher Raphael Kazmann at LSU suggested that the Mississippi would be the victor in the struggle of man against nature. In his 1980 study on the possible effects of the Atchafalaya diversion he states, âProbably the most important single conclusion reached by this study is that in the long run the Atchafalaya will become the principal distributary of the Mississippi River and that the current main-stream will become an estuary of the Gulf of Mexicoâ¦the final outcome is only a matter of timeâ (Kazmann 1)." http://www.tulane.edu/~bfleury/envirobio/enviroweb/FloodControl.htm Seneca
Memphis in May... It's an excellent celebration in that city. Music all over the streets and down by the river. Also a huge BBQ event on the Mississippi . Beale Street full of street musicians. have a great time May the rains hold off !