Elizabeth Barrette (ysabetwordsmith) wrote,
Elizabeth Barrette
ysabetwordsmith
  • Mood: tired

More Flooding: Department of DUH!

I found this article today:

Midwest Levee Breaks, Corn Price at New High
Carey Gillam of Reuters reports: "The Mississippi River on Friday burst through an earthen levee that may have been weakened by burrowing muskrats, swamping a Missouri town and adding to billion-dollar losses in US Midwest flooding that has fueled fears of soaring world food prices."


Well, of course a levee broke.
1) America's infrastructure is in lousy shape because little of it has been funded.
2) The Mississippi never did like two-legs anyway. Doesn't take much to rile it up, and nothing holds that River when it decides to stretch.

Anybody with a levee that hasn't broken yet might want to take a look and see if it needs maintenance. While there's still time.
Tags: environment, news
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  • 10 comments
minor_architect

minor_architect

June 29 2008, 16:52:01 UTC 12 years ago

As a somewhat interesting side-note, my fiance's parents live in Winfield, MO. What I've heard from them is this levee lies about 7 miles away from where they live and the city itself is right next to a floodplain area. Most of what is underwater now is farmland that was built right on the floodplain or slum areas. (Or, "a lot of shacks," as his parents put it.) I was left scratching my head as to why anyone would put a farm on a floodplain, but apparently that's some very fertile land. You just have the problem of it...well, you know, flooding once every few years!

*still scratching head*
ysabetwordsmith

ysabetwordsmith

June 29 2008, 17:33:27 UTC 12 years ago

In fact, floodplains are excellent farmland because regular flooding rinses and refreshes the soil. The ancient Egyptians relied on the Nile's flood cycle for their agriculture. And they dealt with the flooding like this:

1) When the waters began to rise, everyone packed up and went camping in the desert for a few weeks. Ceremonies honored the rise and fall of the floodwaters as the priests kept careful track.

2) When the waters subsided, everyone moved back and proceeded to plant the newly enriched fields with crops suited to that environment.

3) They had two kinds of buildings: permanent stone ones that merely needed to have the mud washed off, and temporary wooden ones that were swept away and rebuilt every year.

Sensible people work WITH nature, not against it. There are even Midwest-native edibles that are flood-friendly: arrowleaf has a starchy root similar to a potato, and several parts of cattail are edible. Both grow wild in ditches and floodplains around here. Rice is a great domesticated crop for floodplains, but takes a lot more fussing over to yield.
minor_architect

minor_architect

June 29 2008, 18:37:32 UTC 12 years ago

In fact, floodplains are excellent farmland because regular flooding rinses and refreshes the soil. The ancient Egyptians relied on the Nile's flood cycle for their agriculture.

*taps forehead* Ah, right. You can see just how much I retained from the courses I took in World History, way back in the day. Thanks for reminding me! ;-)
morningdove3202

I hear what your saying.....

morningdove3202

June 29 2008, 20:24:49 UTC 12 years ago

BUT.... The Nile River had (has?) a predictable flooding cycle. They knew when it was going to flood and could plan for it, and it rose slowly, not violently.....

I'm trying to imagine Americans today returning to their stone homes with power washers.....what a paradigm shift!

Dove
ysabetwordsmith

Re: I hear what your saying.....

ysabetwordsmith

June 29 2008, 23:19:18 UTC 12 years ago

Many rivers have had a predictable flooding cycle. Sadly, that has become less true as they've been dammed, channeled, and otherwise modified -- plus now the weather is erratic too.

Americans are used to forcing nature to do what they want, instead of adapting their own behavior to local nature. Trouble is, nature is getting tired of that ... and nature outweighs humanity, a lot. Societies that forget that tend to die out.
christinaathena

Re: I hear what your saying.....

christinaathena

June 30 2008, 04:18:50 UTC 12 years ago

The Nile's flooding cycle was only partially predictable. Yes, you knew that in most years there was going to be a flood, but the extent of the flood was variable, and some years the flood failed completely.