<![CDATA[Grist - Comment Feed for As Corps series ends, big questions remain about the future of the Mississippi]]> Grist Comment Feed en Comment #1 by Pangolin http://www.grist.org/article/gertz3/ Fri, 21 Mar 2008 09:53:38 -0700 http://www.grist.org/article/gertz3/1 The Big Muddy's goin to throw it's chains

and go where it wants to go.

One thing we're starting to get a clue about here in California (seasons: flood, fire, earthquake and drought) is that when nature is up to bat all the kings horses and all the kings men can't save a poorly placed structure.

At some point a big storm or three will perch above the Mississippi headwaters while the snow's still on the ground and send the whole mess south at once. At that point it's anybody's guess what's going to fail but the levee failures and structure bypasses will be biblical.

So if you live along the Mississippi I would suggest that you always have a boat tied to your house if you could possibly be in a flood zone. Looking for a boat in pouring rain and rising water is no fun and there are usually none to be had.

Just for fun and giggles I remember a National Geographic article from years past showing a structure whose entire purpose was keeping the river from bypassing Louisiana and heading off towards Texas. Does anybody know what that thing was called?

]]> The Big Muddy's goin to throw it's chains

and go where it wants to go.

One thing we're starting to get a clue about here in California (seasons: flood, fire, earthquake and drought) is that when nature is up to bat all the kings horses and all the kings men can't save a poorly placed structure.

At some point a big storm or three will perch above the Mississippi headwaters while the snow's still on the ground and send the whole mess south at once. At that point it's anybody's guess what's going to fail but the levee failures and structure bypasses will be biblical.

So if you live along the Mississippi I would suggest that you always have a boat tied to your house if you could possibly be in a flood zone. Looking for a boat in pouring rain and rising water is no fun and there are usually none to be had.

Just for fun and giggles I remember a National Geographic article from years past showing a structure whose entire purpose was keeping the river from bypassing Louisiana and heading off towards Texas. Does anybody know what that thing was called?

]]> Comment #2 by Wordweaverlynn http://www.grist.org/article/gertz3/ Fri, 21 Mar 2008 14:52:48 -0700 http://www.grist.org/article/gertz3/2 Old River Control Structure

Old River Control is the complex that's supposed to keep the Red River from capturing the Mississippi. So far it has held up, but John McPhee made the dangers clear in "Atchafalaya," reprinted in The Control of Nature. (Very highly recommended.)

]]> Old River Control Structure

Old River Control is the complex that's supposed to keep the Red River from capturing the Mississippi. So far it has held up, but John McPhee made the dangers clear in "Atchafalaya," reprinted in The Control of Nature. (Very highly recommended.)

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