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  1. #1
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    Nearly a million acres of prime Mississippi farmland threate

    Nearly a million acres of prime Mississippi farmland threatened by approaching mega-flood

    Friday, May 06, 2011 by: Ethan A. Huff, staff writer

    (NaturalNews) Torrential rains and melting winter snow continue to saturate the US Midwest. The water has already caused massive flooding and record swelling of both the Mississippi and Ohio rivers. And according to MPB News in Mississippi, the worst is yet to come as this deadly, 500-year flood is expected to wipe out nearly a million farming acres in Mississippi alone, not to mention the hundreds of thousands of acres of farmland in other states like Missouri, Arkansas, and Tennessee that also touch these bursting rivers.

    Several cities along the Mississippi River have already been evacuated, including areas around Memphis, Tenn. Reuters has reported that the Tennessee Emergency Management Agency (TEMA) has begun going door-to-door in and around Memphis urging people to evacuate (http://www.reuters.com/article/2011...). And all along the Mississippi, from Minnesota all the way down to Louisiana, record-level flooding is currently taking place that is sparking other evacuation and preparedness measures.

    Besides the destruction of homes, businesses, and major infrastructure, the flooding is also in the process of destroying hundreds of thousands of acres of precious farmland. Earlier today, the Army Corp of Engineers (ACE) added to this destruction by deliberately setting off a third and final detonation of the Birds Point Levee near New Madrid, Mo., releasing millions of tons of water into several hundred thousand acres of farmland in Missouri, in order to protect the decaying town of Cairo, Ill. from flooding (http://www.kfvs12.com/story/1455752...).

    According to reports, ACE is also considering blasting two other levees in Louisiana, which would release untold millions of tons of water into the Bonnet Carre and Morganza floodways in that state. If these levees end up being demolished, it will be the first time ever that three major flood plains have been intentionally flooded in the same year (http://www.reuters.com/article/2011...).

    The unprecedented loss of farmland and food crops; the destruction of homes, businesses and infrastructure; and the potential triggering of a massive earthquake in the New Madrid Seismic Zone (NMSZ) are all of primary concern as this Mississippi flood situation escalates. Interestingly, the US Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is set to conduct a catastrophic earthquake exercise near the NMSZ from May 16 - May 19, 2011, which coincides perfectly with this ticking time bomb (http://www.fema.gov/about/regions/r...).

    Sources for this story include:

    http://www.mpbonline.org/news/story...

    http://www.naturalnews.com/032301_Missi ... flood.html



    Kathyet

  2. #2
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    Here is an update on the flooding

    Mississippi River crests near record at Memphis

    By Reuters
    Wednesday, May 11th, 2011 -- 9:05 am



    MEMPHIS, Tennessee (Reuters) - The Mississippi River was cresting at Memphis on Tuesday just inches below the all-time record as the swollen wall of water moved south toward the Gulf of Mexico.

    The level of the largest river in North America may have reached its peak at 47.87 feet on Tuesday morning in Memphis, and it has dropped since then, according to Andy Sniezak, meteorologist for the National Weather Service.

    "The river is in the cresting phase, which is good news," said Steve Shular, spokesman for the Shelby County Office of Preparedness. "But we're still going to have problems for the next several days because the water is so high and it will keep the creeks and tributaries high as well."

    Downstream, the U.S. government was preparing to open a second Louisiana spillway to ease the flooding threat to New Orleans and Baton Rouge. A spillway near New Orleans was opened on Monday for the first time since 2008.

    Communities without levees north and south of Vicksburg, Mississippi, already were inundated and residents near the banks of the river eyed their flood protections uneasily.

    Few injuries have been reported in Tennessee or Mississippi from the flooding, but thousands of residents have been evacuated as the flood tide from snow melt and rains in the upper Midwest has pushed the river miles-wide in many spots.

    In Shelby County about 500 people were in shelters, and several hundred others were staying with friends and family.
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    "They don't call it the Mighty Mississippi for nothing," said Shular, noting that the swollen river is running hard and fast because of the flood. "We certainly are discouraging people from getting near it and in it."

    Shular said many people in kayaks were out in the main channel last night. He noted the dangers of copperheads and water moccasins, both venomous snakes, coming into homes and yards, and that people need to be wary when they return home.

    Forecasters said weather in Memphis will be sunny and hot over the next couple of days, but thunderstorms were expected on Thursday which could stall the receding waters.

    Since the Mississippi River flood of 1927 that killed some 1,000 people, improvements have been made in flood control with the building of dams and levees, reservoirs and floodways. Those fortifications have held all along the river this year.

    Melt from the unusually snowy winter saturated many areas of the Midwest and fed near-record water levels. Problems were compounded in southern Illinois where the rain-swollen Ohio River flowed into the Mississippi from the east.

    The flooding is hurting farmers. Nearly 3 million acres of farm land in Arkansas, Mississippi and Tennessee are flooded or are expected to flood, officials said.

    About 500,000 acres of Mississippi Delta farmland were under water, according to Andy Prosser, head of marketing at the Mississippi Department of Agriculture and Commerce.

    He said the rising waters were delaying fuel and supply shipments to farmers because some highways were impassable.

    "This is an issue of supply and demand. There are 11 million cultivated acres of crops in Mississippi and damaged crops will have an affect on prices nationwide," he said.

    Prosser said new plantings under water include corn, soybeans, and cotton with thousands of farmers who have yet to plant wondering when and where they could get a crop in.

    "We have to watch when the waters recede because that is when the real problems start," Prosser said.

    "I've never seen anything like this and I've been farming for 31 years. This is a once-in-a-lifetime flood," said Joe Christian, a 48-year-old second-generation farmer in Jonesboro, Arkansas, about 60 miles northwest of Memphis.

    The cresting river will be welcome news to the nine floating casinos in Tunica County, Mississippi, about 25 miles south of Memphis. They have been closed because of flooding since May 2, and the economic impact has been severe.

    Valerie Morris, vice-president for Caesars Entertainment in Tunica, said some of the casinos could open in as early as two weeks, while others could be closed for up to six more weeks.

    The casinos gross about $87 million a month, with $10 million going to state and local taxes. They also employ 9,700 people. "This is unprecedented," Morris said. "We're 24/7, so we have never closed."

    The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers opened the Bonnet Carre spillway north of New Orleans Monday to divert some water to Lake Pontchartrain. It had no impact on homes or businesses.

    The Corps also has asked permission to open the Morganza Spillway on Thursday, which would reduce pressure on Baton Rouge and New Orleans by diverting water to the Atchafalaya River Basin. This would force the evacuation of some people and livestock.

    Last week, the Corps blasted open a Missouri levee, flooding about 130,000 acres of Missouri farmland to ease pressure on the levee system and towns in southern Illinois and western Kentucky. Dozens of farms were flooded.

    Through Mississippi, residents were bracing for potential record crests at Vicksburg on May 19 and at Natchez on May 21 and authorities were warning that up to 5,000 Mississippi residents may be forced to evacuate.

    (Additional reporting by Tim Ghianni in Nashville, Selam Gebrekidan, Karl Plume and Leigh Coleman; Editing by Greg McCune, James Kelleher and Jerry Norton)

    Source: Reuters US Online Report Domestic News

    Image courtesy MemphisFlyer.com

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    http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2011/05/11/m ... t-memphis/


    And an other link from Natural News :


    Historic Mississippi River flood destroying millions of farmland acres with polluted, pesticide-ridden flood waters

    Thursday, May 12, 2011 by: Ethan A. Huff, staff writer


    (NaturalNews) As record-breaking Mississippi River flood waters crested this morning near Memphis, Tenn., many other towns and cities along the river are awaiting record-breaking flood levels expected to arrive later this week and early next week. The Washington Post has reported that three million acres of mostly farmland have already been flooded in Arkansas, Tennessee, and Mississippi -- and much of this water is highly polluted with chemicals, pesticides, and other dangerous pollutants that are now surging down towards the Gulf of Mexico (http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs...).

    Flood waters continue to rise all along the Mississippi, including in Natchez, Miss., which today saw its portion of the river rise to 58.3 feet, breaking the all-time 1937 record of 53.04 feet. Vicksburg, Miss., Baton Rouge, La., and New Orleans, La. are all expected to see record-breaking crests late next week, some far exceeding previous record flood levels. And the US Army Corps of Engineers may release several more levees in Louisiana within the next few days.

    "I really can't compare it to anything," said Andy Prosser, head of marketing at the Mississippi Department of Agriculture and Commerce (MDAC), to The Wall Street Journal (WSJ), concerning the flood damage that has already occurred (http://online.wsj.com/article/SB100...). "This is unprecedented territory."

    Many small ports along the Mississippi River have already been shut down as facilities and equipment are now completely submerged under water in many areas. At least three nuclear power facilities along the river are also threatened by record flooding, including two plants in Louisiana, and another in Mississippi. And as many as ten major oil refineries all along the river, which represent nearly 14 percent of US oil refining capacity, are also threatened for shutdown (http://www.reuters.com/article/2011...).

    Nineteen riverboat casinos along the Mississippi River, which generate up to $13 million a month in taxes for state governments, have either already been shut down, or will be shut down by the end of the week. Roughly 13,000 people who work on these riverboats are now temporarily out of work ((http://apnews.myway.com/article/201...).

    And as far as food crops are concerned, flooding has postponed or canceled plantings of rice on 300,000 acres of farmland in Arkansas, which represent ten percent of total rice acreage in the US (http://af.reuters.com/article/commo...).

    Articles Related to This Article:
    • Army Corps of Engineers to blow up Birds Point levee near New Madrid as 500-year flood slams Midwest

    • Nearly a million acres of prime Mississippi farmland threatened by approaching mega-flood

    • Midwest, Southern states brace for the worst as record flooding threatens region

    • Nuclear plant workers release unknown amount of radioactive tritium into Mississippi River

    • Ocean Dead Zones Now Top 400

    http://www.naturalnews.com/032366_Missi ... oding.html


    Kathyet

  3. #3
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    Its ashame but we can not contole mother nature.I feel sorry for these people farmers through out the bread basket are feeling the effects cant get their crops planted so their income will go down,with this food prices will go up so this flooding will effect everybody in someway

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