ktlight
6th May 2011, 08:58
Another section of the Mississippi River levee is to be breached for the third time to relieve a flood threat in six US states.
US engineers and officials are planning the blast on the Birds Point levee with the hope of diverting the flood waters for 35 miles (56 km) before they return to the Mississippi River in the town on New Madrid, as six US states are either bracing for or already reporting record flooding, dpa reports.
Evacuations have already begun in some states and heavy rains are predicted for the coming week.
The levee was first breached on Monday in order to save a town in Illinois, which also sacrificed 200 square miles of farmland in Missouri.
The third blast, which was scheduled for Wednesday, was delayed for some “logistical difficulties,” as the Army Corp of Engineers say. The blast is due on Thursday 1800 GMT.
The Army Corp of Engineers is the body responsible for the system of locks and dams along the Mississippi River.
Flooding already spread earlier this week across bottomland farms in the river's upper valley in Illinois and Missouri.
Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal said the flooding would be a “marathon” that would last for weeks. Mayor Paul Winfield of Vicksburg, Mississippi, said, “This flood will be historic.”
This year, record rains and horrific storms across the Midwest and South have added to the flow, the meteorology service AccuWeather said. Projections indicate the Mississippi River could set new record stages over the coming weeks, as bad or worse than the historic 1937 floods.
The rains during April have already pushed the flood stage to nearly 20 meters in Cairo, Illinois, at the confluence of the Ohio and Mississippi rivers. Destruction of a levee to protect a town resulted in the flooding of 56,000 hectares of farmland in Missouri.
Just last week, tornadoes of record size and numbers struck the US South, killing at least 350 people and cutting a swathe of destruction across five states, including worst-hit Alabama.
The worst tornado outbreak to hit the United States was in March 1925 when about 750 people died.
Following fatal tornadoes and flooding, US President Barack Obama has signed a disaster declaration for Mississippi, Tennessee and Kentucky, making the three states eligible for federal help with relief efforts.
source
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/178475.html
US engineers and officials are planning the blast on the Birds Point levee with the hope of diverting the flood waters for 35 miles (56 km) before they return to the Mississippi River in the town on New Madrid, as six US states are either bracing for or already reporting record flooding, dpa reports.
Evacuations have already begun in some states and heavy rains are predicted for the coming week.
The levee was first breached on Monday in order to save a town in Illinois, which also sacrificed 200 square miles of farmland in Missouri.
The third blast, which was scheduled for Wednesday, was delayed for some “logistical difficulties,” as the Army Corp of Engineers say. The blast is due on Thursday 1800 GMT.
The Army Corp of Engineers is the body responsible for the system of locks and dams along the Mississippi River.
Flooding already spread earlier this week across bottomland farms in the river's upper valley in Illinois and Missouri.
Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal said the flooding would be a “marathon” that would last for weeks. Mayor Paul Winfield of Vicksburg, Mississippi, said, “This flood will be historic.”
This year, record rains and horrific storms across the Midwest and South have added to the flow, the meteorology service AccuWeather said. Projections indicate the Mississippi River could set new record stages over the coming weeks, as bad or worse than the historic 1937 floods.
The rains during April have already pushed the flood stage to nearly 20 meters in Cairo, Illinois, at the confluence of the Ohio and Mississippi rivers. Destruction of a levee to protect a town resulted in the flooding of 56,000 hectares of farmland in Missouri.
Just last week, tornadoes of record size and numbers struck the US South, killing at least 350 people and cutting a swathe of destruction across five states, including worst-hit Alabama.
The worst tornado outbreak to hit the United States was in March 1925 when about 750 people died.
Following fatal tornadoes and flooding, US President Barack Obama has signed a disaster declaration for Mississippi, Tennessee and Kentucky, making the three states eligible for federal help with relief efforts.
source
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/178475.html