Mississippi river crests as most detrimental is finished for Memphis

The American southeast is being battered by the Mississippi river, which has been swollen and flooding for several weeks. The worst is over for Memphis, Tenn., as the river has crested in the Music City. There are other areas which still face significant danger, though.

Homeless people

More than 1,000 individuals have been rendered homeless, however some of the greatest landmarks in the state of TN have gone untouched. BBC reports that Music City’s Beale Street district wasn’t hurt by floodwaters at all. The Mississippi has not harmed Graceland, the estate that was the home of Elvis Presley in his later life until his death in 1977. One of the officials of the Shelby County Emergency Management Agency, the county Memphis is located in, was quoted as saying people would be willing to “charge hell with a water pistol” to keep Graceland safe. Flash floods in the Memphis area are a significant concern, reports CBS. About 1,300 homes were evacuated because of this fear. The water will take a while to recede.

Flooding after storms are over

After the snowfall near record on the East Coast of the United States, the Mississippi river has gotten very high. However, the floodwaters near Memphis recently crested at 48 feet, less than 10 inches shy of the record set in 1937. Though the most detrimental of the danger is coming to an end in Memphis, there is considerable danger left for the rest of the cities and states along the path of the Mississippi river. There have been issues with the flood in the rest of the Mississippi river system and river delta. Still, precautions are still being taken. Pressure on the New Orleans’ levees should be relieved by the Bonnet Carre Spillway, states MSNBC. The Army Corps of Engineers just opened it up. Measures are being taken to prepare for the water going in that direction, although floodwaters are going through the delta already.

Floods compared to history

The Christian Science Monitor reports that even though the flood amounts are bad, they are not as bad as the floods in 1927 killing hundreds and costing millions. There is more than 2,000 miles of levees which were constructed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in response to the 1927 floods. The water always has to go someplace though. That means the Mississippi water has to flood someplace else when the spillways are opened. It is expected that 900,000 acres of Arkansas farmland will become flooded as the water moves toward the Gulf of Mexico and spillways are opened along the way.

Information from

BBC

bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-13337548

MSNBC

msnbc.msn.com/id/42973616/ns/us_news-environment/

CBS

cbsnews.com/stories/2011/05/09/travel/main20061138.shtml

Christian Science Monitor

csmonitor.com/USA/2011/0509/Mississippi-River-nears-crest-in-Memphis-but-concern-shifts-south