Sunday, May 8, 2011

Sunday Globe Special: South is Safe

As long as Mom has a rowboat.

"Because of the billions of dollars spent on levees and other flood defenses built over the years, engineers say it is unlikely any major metropolitan areas will be inundated"

They already have been from the few pictures I saw on television -- but they got in the basketball game!

Related: Fears for old levees rise along with rivers; Across US, many in need of repairs

(Blog editor's chin drops to chest as he heaves a great sigh)

"Memphis braces for flooding as Mississippi nears its crest" by Janet Blake, Associated Press / May 8, 2011

HICKMAN, Ky. — Record river levels, some dating to the 1920s, were expected to be broken in some parts along the river. In Memphis, the river is expected to crest at 48 feet on Wednesday, just shy of the 48.7-foot record from the devastating flood of 1937....

Elsewhere, officials in Louisiana warned residents that even if a key spillway northwest of Baton Rouge was opened, residents should expect floods comparable to those of 1973. Some of Louisiana’s most valuable farmland is expected to be inundated with water.

Related: U.S. MIlitary Floods Farmland

And it is not just the starvation aspect that should be noted.  Word is that the water is seeping into the cracks in the fault lines and earthquakes have begun.

Related: Homeland Security to Conduct Multi-State Earthquake Drill

Some people are hearing a HAARP; however, I leave that for you to decide for yourself.

Louisiana’s governor, Bobby Jindal, said the Morganza spillway could be opened as soon as Thursday, but a decision has not been made. If it is opened, it could stay open for weeks.

A separate spillway northwest of New Orleans was to be opened tomorrow, helping ease the pressure on levees there....  

Why if billions have been spe.... sigh.

Because of the billions of dollars spent on levees and other flood defenses built over the years, engineers say it is unlikely any major metropolitan areas will be inundated as the water pushes downstream over the next week or two, but farms, small towns, and even some urban areas could see extensive flooding.

I can't follow backtracks through the water.

Since the Great Mississippi Flood of 1927, a disaster that killed hundreds, Congress has made protecting the cities on the lower Mississippi a priority. The Army Corps of Engineers has spent $13 billion to fortify cities with floodwalls and carve out overflow basins and ponds — a departure from the “levees-only’’ strategy that led to the 1927 calamity.  

Yeah, this government has done such a great job. It almost makes you forget Katrina.

The Corps also straightened out sections of the river that used to meander and pool perilously. As a result, the Mississippi flows into the Gulf of Mexico faster, and water presses against the levees for shorter periods....    

Actually, isn't that part of the problem?  

Instead of the river making its own water naturally it's been channeled into a narrow area. Take a pot of water and pour it into a tall glass and see what happens.  

And the media is actually calling that success?  

I know, I know, living space, development, uber alles.

--more--"  

Also forgotten in the pages of my Boston Globe (bottom brief, dear readers):

"Volunteers line up for tornado victims

TUSCALOOSA — Thousands of volunteers arrived at the hard-hit home of the University of Alabama with chainsaws, wrecking bars, and food yesterday, offering help to tornado victims. A long line of vehicles piled into a volunteer registration center where officials waived plans to make workers register because they couldn’t keep up with the large number of people showing up to work."   

Where is the damn government?

Also seeThe History of Global Cooling 

Seems to be where we are these last few years, contrary to the fart-misting fanatics and their mouthpiece media.  

Yes, you can learn from history!