2011 Historic River Floods & CorpEng management

[CajunMama]

It's open

[BreinLa]

Welcome to Storm2k monicaei, I also live near Comeaux High School, actually down the road from CajunMama, my son went to STM and my daughter went to Comeaux... Stick around Hurricane season is coming soon

[Terry]

If you on on Facebook, here is the ACE page for the New Orleans District. They have photos from today's opening of the Morganza Spillway. Stay safe. It's very sad to see.

http://www.facebook.com/?ref=home#!/usacenola

[Stephanie]

Gov. Jindal said the Morganza Spillway is to open within the next 24 hours. My prayers and thoughts go out to those who homes/businesses will be flooded so that Baton Rouge and New Orleans will be spared.

Agreed. Bon chance, mes amis. Our hearts are with you. Remember that all those with cajun heritage are ancestors of a group of exiled Acadians who settled these lands long before the Corps or the levees got here. The strength and resiliency of their blood line is alive and well in Cajun country. It's the one thing the river can't wash away.

Welcome to storm2k!

[monicaei]

Hey guys.

Actually been lurking around here for years, best source of hurricane info in a single place I have evere found.

Stay high and dry! BR downtown on river road starting to look like a soggy war zone. Getting everyone a little uneasy.

[monicaei]

Hello all, again!

A total of 9 gates are open. But this is WIERD.

http://water.weather.gov/ahps2/hydrogra ... 2C1%2C1%22

Click on the tabular data, its showing values of -999 cfs? Ever since it recorded 1520 cfs this afternoon, it apparently went "offline", or just crazy. Remember, the goal of opening Morganza was maintaining 1.5 kcfs @ red river landing. And it was supposed to be 1 to 2 per day. Anybody with more insight than mine? An additional 5 bays were opened this evening, and the river gauges are offline (assuming there is not a negative pressure reading, and the river has all evaporated)

[angelwing]

Praying for all affected

[monicaei]

So who wants to see something even odder?

http://www.mvn.usace.army.mil/eng/Edhd/ ... 164988.asp

The hydrograph from the Old River Control Structure "lower sill" outflow

[Sean in New Orleans]

My thoughts and prayers are with those being affected by the opening of the gates. I have friends that have camps in this area and most that live in the spillway live in camps, although quite a few do make it their permanent residence. It is beautiful country, however, they know the risks and they know they live in a spillway. It's sad seeing these stories on the news, but, the Army Corps of Engineers sends every one of them a letter once a year reminding them that they live in a spillway and that in any given year the Morganza could be opened. Reading about signs people are posting in their yards and the anger they are venting is unfounded. They know where they live and are reminded by the United States Federal Government every year. It is a choice and that is why a vast majority are moving out quietly without really saying much. This isn't totally shocking to them. I'm really glad to hear that crop losses are going to be covered by insurance. The policies state that losses are not covered by any loss that isn't natural, but, this has event has been given an exception as it should be.

[CajunMama]

Sean, these people have a right to signs and all that. Aren't the people who live in the New Orleans area below sea level? What makes them so special that their homes are saved and these others are flooded? It is a choice that they chose to live beside the mississippi river and/or below sea level. I don't particularly like the idea of flooding someone else for the benefit of baton rouge or new orleans. You live on a major waterway or below sea level you had better expect to flood. That's the choice those people in BR and NO made also.

[Sean in New Orleans]

I know they have rights to post signs....but, the 875,000 people of Baton Rouge and the 1,250,000 people of New Orleans don't receive warning letters annually stating that we could be flooded every year. Instead, the Federal Government builds flood protections for these cities (and many more across the country) to protect us from natural disasters. Unfortunately in 2005 the Federal Government protections failed, but, it looks like they've corrected those areas. The United States creates flood plains across many areas of this country specifically to deal with natural disasters...namely river floods. There are constructed areas where the main area is meant to be a designated flood plain when these events occur. New Orleans and Baton Rouge are large American cities that are not located in government allocated flood spillways. These people have my sympathies. As stated, I have friends that are being affected, but, if you ask any one of them if they knew that the spillway could be utilized in any given year, every one of them would look at you straight in the eyes and state that they did, indeed, receive a letter in the last year from the US government stating that they inhabit a federally designated flood spillway.

[monicaei]

Wow, that's the "soup bowl" calling the kettle black...

I, for one, just hope the corps knows what the heck their doing. It would be a shame to flood people for nothing.

[Sean in New Orleans]

Wow, that's the "soup bowl" calling the kettle black...

I, for one, just hope the corps knows what the heck their doing. It would be a shame to flood people for nothing.

Not really...you don't seem to understand. I'm not against these people...I'm with them. My friends are possibly losing their camps. In any case, for now, and I say, for now, it seems like it may not be quite as bad, although, unfortunately this event could last a few weeks, which is bad. Either way, I'll be back in Butte Larose eating crawfish as soon as they let us back in to the place. And, as stated, all of the people I know that live in Butte Larose are aware it is in a flood plain...but, it is their camps, NOT, their permanent homes, although, like I said, some do have permanent homes there and for them I ache the most. But, truly, even they know the risks...they would admit if if you asked them. As for New Orleans, if it was in a Federally designated flood plain, I wouldn't make it my permanent residence, and for that matter, if it was in a constructed flood plain, it wouldn't be here. The US government wouldn't allow it. I'm hoping this event goes by in a low key way, without much fanfare, because, since it is a Federal floodway, the US government could go in and take all of the land (truly only a few thousand live in the actual plain), but, I like things the way they are since this floodway is rarely opened and that is why I think they'll leave it be, although, they could come in with some more guidelines and restrictions when the waters disappear.

[bvigal]

I changed the title of this, because we've already set some records and IT'S NOT OVER YET.

Record snowfalls/snowpack in Rockies.
Flooding in Manitoba, Montana, Wyoming, Dakotas, etc. and all headed down the Missouri River.
Flooding of "serious" or "record" proportions still occuring on lower Mississippi
Flooding "moderate" to "serious" still occurring all over the midwest, including JOPLIN MISSOURI!
Flood warnings still in effect for Mississippi and Ohio Rivers.

River floods are not quick events that are gone in a day, or even in 3 days like a hurricane. They last for weeks. And this year, it will last for months if you count already a month gone and 100" of melt to come down from the north... Remember 1993?

Has anybody heard if the levee protecting Eagle Lake and Vicksburg is still holding?

[ravyrn]

Flooding in Manitoba, Montana, Wyoming, Dakotas, etc. and all headed down the Missouri River.

While a lot of the flooding is located in the Missouri River drainage basin, the flooding in Manitoba and the northern and eastern portions of North Dakota drain into Hudson Bay.

[bvigal]

Flooding in Manitoba, Montana, Wyoming, Dakotas, etc. and all headed down the Missouri River.

While a lot of the flooding is located in the Missouri River drainage basin, the flooding in Manitoba and the northern and eastern portions of North Dakota drain into Hudson Bay.

THANKS for pointing that out! Yes, there is some minor flooding on Red River along the Minnesota/ND border, and it drains north! Here is a map of that drainage:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Redrivernorthmap.png
And I saw a striking photo of flooded farm in Manitoba.

Major flooding is further west, where Devils Lake and Stump Lake are full and will collect no more snowmelt. I've cut and pasted the two different views of ND from AHPS:


http://www.greenwichtime.com/news/artic ... 390426.php

Wyoming snowpack continues to grow, heightens concern over massive runoff to come
http://www.dailyjournal.net/view/story/ ... -Flooding/

[bvigal]

(Montana) Soggy Northern Plains braces for 2nd slug of water
http://www.newsday.com/news/nation/sogg ... -1.2908729

(Omaha) City Officials Expect Record Flooding
http://www.ketv.com/r/28046349/detail.html

Missouri River Expected to Rise to Record Levels
http://www.kptm.com/story/14742706/missouri-river

[vbhoutex]

(Montana) Soggy Northern Plains braces for 2nd slug of water
http://www.newsday.com/news/nation/sogg ... -1.2908729

(Omaha) City Officials Expect Record Flooding
http://www.ketv.com/r/28046349/detail.html

Missouri River Expected to Rise to Record Levels
http://www.kptm.com/story/14742706/missouri-river

Just what the Mississippi needs, more water coming in.
Sadly there has been almost no mention of the flooding in Montana in the media.

[snoopj]

We've already got estimate posting by NWS Kansas City for the lower Missouri River basin. Some of the places along the lower Missouri could see some of their highest levels since 1993.

http://www.crh.noaa.gov/eax/?n=moriverflood_2011

[snoopj]

Already starting to see Missouri River breaches south of the Gavin's Point dam near the Iowa/Missouri border and we haven't even gotten to the really high stuff yet. In fact, they are still ramping up the water output from Gavin's Point. We aren't at maximum flow that the Corp of Engineers has even proposed yet.