The deal was set up in the late 1920's, an extra channel parallels the river for 35 miles to take excess flood water and save the one town in the unlikely event both the Mississippi and the Ohio river reach high crests at the same place and same time. That's happening now. The levee around the town isn't high enough....
Back then the channel area was basically swampland of no account, and the town of Cairo was an up and coming big town. The plan made some sense back then, protect the valuable and let the worthless swamp take the water flow.
Now 80 years later, the floodway has been turned into some of the more valuable land in the country, with 100 - 200 homes in it aside from the 133,000 acres of good farm land, while the town of Cairo has fallen on hard times and is in decay and has barely 4 times more people in it than are living in the floodway.
Strictly speaking the deal is the deal and the floodway should be blown and everyone shoulda known this day would come.
But - 80 years changes a lot, and the deal probably shoulda been reviewed along the way? I'm not from there so I don't know but it seems a lot of damage will be done to _possibly_ save something of lessor value in today's world.
There are many possibilities of what happens to the spillway after the sacrifical levees are blown. At the least the fertile topsoil will be scored and washed and covered with sand deposits and debris, making the 133,000 acres unproductive for several years to forever.... When, if ever, will the blown levee's be rebuilt to start with?
Certainly a difficult choice, with the deals and time and all. Again, I'm not from there so I could be all wrong on the politics of the situation. Seems race comes into play too, depending on which side you want to be.....
At this point,t hey seem to be playing it both ways, evacuating both the spillway and the town; adding the explosives to the levee pipes (how would you remove that to safety standards without actually blowing them????) and then will it do any good, or will the town be swamped by what is coming out of the Ohio anyhow as they are getting more rain over there. It's an ugly situation all around.
Takes 20 hours to pump the explosives into the levee pipes; I can't see any other outcome but to let it blow after that?
Then they float another barge down the spillway & blow out the bottom levee in the same way 2 days later so the water can drain.
Then we lose 20 million bu of corn (prob 10 corn, and equivelent of soybeans...) in a year when we are short on corn. ;)
We sell tractor parts! We have the parts you need to repair your tractor - the right parts. Our low prices and years of research make us your best choice when you need parts. Shop Online Today. [ About Us ]
Today's Featured Article - Restoration Story: Fordson Major - by Anthony West. George bought his Fordson Major from a an implement sale about 18 years ago for £200.00 (UK). There is no known history regarding its origins or what service it had done, but the following work was undertaken alone to bring it up to show standard. From the engine number, it was found that this Major was produced late 1946. It was almost complete but had various parts that would definitely need replacing.
... [Read Article]
Latest Ad:
1964 I-H 140 tractor with cultivators and sidedresser. Starts and runs good. Asking 2650. CALL RON AT 502-319-1952
[More Ads]
All Rights Reserved. Reproduction of any part of this website, including design and content, without written permission is strictly prohibited. Trade Marks and Trade Names contained and used in this Website are those of others, and are used in this Website in a descriptive sense to refer to the products of others. Use of this Web site constitutes acceptance of our User Agreement and Privacy Policy
TRADEMARK DISCLAIMER: Tradenames and Trademarks referred to within Yesterday's Tractor Co. products and within the Yesterday's Tractor Co. websites are the property of their respective trademark holders. None of these trademark holders are affiliated with Yesterday's Tractor Co., our products, or our website nor are we sponsored by them. John Deere and its logos are the registered trademarks of the John Deere Corporation. Agco, Agco Allis, White, Massey Ferguson and their logos are the registered trademarks of AGCO Corporation. Case, Case-IH, Farmall, International Harvester, New Holland and their logos are registered trademarks of CNH Global N.V.
