Thursday, May 5, 2011

the mighty mississippi

Well another two days has passed...and the Mighty Mississippi is still rising!
I want to give a little bit more info in this post than I did in the last. Just for everyone who reads and doesn't know much about Natchez and the MS River.
Flood stage at Natchez is 48'. Today as of 1pm the river stands at 53'. It is still forecasted to rise near 64' by Sunday May 22. This crest exceeds the flood of 1927 by 7.4', the flood of 1937 by 6.0', the flood of 1973 by 7.3', and the flood of 2008 by 7.0'!!
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers say that the Louisiana's levees should contain these rising waters. The Louisiana levee system is higher than it was in 1927. It is designed to contain this flood. I sure hope they are right!! As of today the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers say the levee is holding up good!
The city of Vidalia is working hard to build up walls and dry islands on the riverfront. They are using 18,000ft of instant levee, these are metal-framed containers lined with impermeable fabric and filled with sand. These barriers are 4' tall and 3' wide and will be placed two deep and two wide in front of the buildings they are protecting. This is a glimpse of what they look like. These barriers are to be like a shield around whatever they are protecting.


 They are having to work fast because at 54' the river gets in the streets at the riverfront, and at 60' they would have to abandon the project altogether!
Now, less than a mile down the river is where the Riverview RV Park in Vidalia is located and as of today they are without power as they pack up and move everything they can to higher ground in prep for the rising river. The park manager said today that if the river reaches the predicted 64' crest, the main building at the RV Park will have 2' of water in it! I know this is so hard to fathom because my mother and father-in-law have stayed there numerous times when they have come to visit, they are suppose to be coming to see us in June so I imagine we will make other arrangements here for them.
Here is a picture of the wall being constructed on May 2, 2011 on the Vidalia riverfront.
This next picture I uploaded from a friend on facebook and it shows you just how much sand they are using to prepare Silver St. (Under-the-Hill) from the rising waters.
Now here are some shots I took today on Broadway Street and from the Grand Soleil hotel parking lot. I believe this shot below is showing where water has taken over what I believe was the sand/gravel pit area, where people could go get loads of sand and/or gravel. Don't quote me on that though! I will find out for sure what that area is.
 Consuming some trees in the center area of this picture.
 This is looking at the Vidalia side of the river. It is getting ever so closer to land! The building on the far right is the Comfort Inn & Suites, to the left of it is a spa, and then the next large building to the left of the spa is the Vidalia Convention Center.
 The water has gotten high enough that it has almost consumed those few little trees in the front!


 The current is moving very swiftly! I know you can't tell from a picture but you can see the ripples being created from the water hitting the bridge posts!
 Getting ever so closer... The building on the far left is Promise Hospital.
That's all I have as of today! I will post again either Saturday or Sunday, whichever day I am able to go get more pictures! Stay tuned..

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