#2382328 - 05/01/11 01:39 PM
closer to blowing Birds Point levee
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Dodge Man
12 Point
Registered: 10/15/03
Posts: 5603
Loc: Dyersburg, TN
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http://www.semissourian.com/story/1723379.html
SIKESTON, Mo. -- With the rains returning and the flood gauge at Cairo, Ill., expected to match all-time highs by Monday, Maj. Gen. Michael Walsh gave the order Saturday to move barges carrying 250 tons of explosives to Wickliffe, Ky., putting them in position to blow the Birds Point levee in Mississippi County.
But Walsh said at a news conference Saturday afternoon he has yet to decide whether he will activate the plan that would inundate 132,000 acres of farmland in Mississippi and New Madrid counties.
"No decision has been made," said Walsh, president of the Mississippi River Commission and commander of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Mississippi Valley Division. "It's not time-phased, it's condition-phased."
And moving the barges is not even an indicator that he's more strongly considering blowing the levee, which would relieve pressure from the swollen Mississippi River by diverting its waters to 132,000 acres of farmland in Mississippi and New Madrid counties.
It was the next step to prepare for that contingency, which was precipitated by the Cairo gauge of 59.19 feet, which is just below the all-time high of 59.5 feet, a level that is expected at Cairo by Monday or Tuesday, Walsh said. Three to four inches of rain was also expected to be dumped on an already soaked Southeast Missouri within the next two to three days, forecasters said.
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#2382335 - 05/01/11 01:51 PM
Re: closer to blowing Birds Point levee
[Re: Dodge Man]
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Nimrod777
18 Point
Registered: 09/28/03
Posts: 23220
Loc: Spring Hill, TN
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whewwwww... man!
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#2382347 - 05/01/11 02:08 PM
Re: closer to blowing Birds Point levee
[Re: Nimrod777]
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LA man
16 Point
Registered: 05/31/03
Posts: 18562
Loc: spencer, tn/houma, la.
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that aint good
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#2382354 - 05/01/11 02:18 PM
Re: closer to blowing Birds Point levee
[Re: LA man]
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Dodge Man
12 Point
Registered: 10/15/03
Posts: 5603
Loc: Dyersburg, TN
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"On Saturday, Maj. Gen. Michael Walsh gave the order to move barges carrying 265 tons of explosives upriver in Kentucky from Hickman to Wickliffe."
http://www.stategazette.com/story/1723412.html
I did not know it was going to take that much explosives to blow the levee.
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#2382558 - 05/01/11 06:02 PM
Re: closer to blowing Birds Point levee
[Re: Dodge Man]
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Dodge Man
12 Point
Registered: 10/15/03
Posts: 5603
Loc: Dyersburg, TN
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General orders pipes at Bird Point levee loaded with blasting agent
Sunday, May 1, 2011 ~ Updated 5:05 PM
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is taking the final steps to prepare the Birds Point levee in Mississippi County for detonation, though the man in charge says that decision has still yet to be made.
Maj. Gen. Michael Walsh ordered field crews on Sunday to move barges loaded with 250 tons of explosives across the river from Kentucky to Missouri and to load the pipes with the blasting agent.
The only step left - the final one - would be to activate the floodway, which would send Mississippi River floodwaters through the 130,000-acre floodway in Mississippi County.
"The final decision to activate the floodway has not been made. Repeat - has not been made," the corps said in a release
http://www.semissourian.com/story/1723455.html
Edited by Dodge Man (05/01/11 06:03 PM)
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#2382564 - 05/01/11 06:08 PM
Re: closer to blowing Birds Point levee
[Re: Dodge Man]
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Dodge Man
12 Point
Registered: 10/15/03
Posts: 5603
Loc: Dyersburg, TN
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Lake County mayor Macie Roberson said he was advised that as of 4:30 p.m. Sunday, it was T-minus 21 hours and counting on the Birds Point Floodway. “We expect it to be blown about 1 p.m. tomorrow (Monday),” he said.
http://www.lakecountybanner.com/news.php?viewStory=2613
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#2382578 - 05/01/11 06:26 PM
Re: closer to blowing Birds Point levee
[Re: RUGER]
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Chaneylake
Brownsville Mafia
16 Point
Registered: 12/18/07
Posts: 15298
Loc: on the wings of a snow white d...
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I hope someone will take some pictures
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Living somewhere between this world and the other, Legends of the Fall
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#2382632 - 05/01/11 07:36 PM
Re: closer to blowing Birds Point levee
[Re: Chaneylake]
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Football Hunter
18 Point
Registered: 10/22/07
Posts: 24565
Loc: Wilson Co/Perry Co
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Thats a lot of explosives
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#2382736 - 05/01/11 09:21 PM
Re: closer to blowing Birds Point levee
[Re: Football Hunter]
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ROB
TnDeer Old Timer
8 Point
Registered: 01/23/00
Posts: 2121
Loc: Murray, KY USA
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The barges carrying the explosives are anchored across from Columbus-Belmont State Park right now. They will probably move upriver at first light tomorrow.
I feel so bad for those poor farm families. Most of that farmland is already planted in corn. According to the Mo Dept of Ag, it now costs about $400/acre to put out corn, what with high fuel & fertilizer prices. Financially, it will bankrupt a lot of families if they blow the levee. Crop insurance would pay if the levee was breeched by an act of God but, in this case, the Gov't will be blowing a 2 mile long hole in it. Once the farmland is flooded, this year's crop will most likely be a total loss because flood water will probably not recede in time to plant soybeans, even if the farmers could overcome the financial losses & get loans to replant the land. I am really sad for these families. If any of you know farmers, you know how hard they have to work. Really bad deal for them.
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