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*** UPDATED x5 - Blown by midnight? - Phelps, Forby plead for MO levee destruction - Decision to be announced at 5 pm *** Rep. Bradley: “We’re losing these towns”
Monday, May 2, 2011 - Posted by Rich Miller *** UPDATE 1 - 1:26 pm *** Two sources just said that Gen. Walsh told top state officials this afternoon that the Missouri fuseplug levee will likely be blown by midnight. We’ll see. *** UPDATE 2 - 1:50 pm *** I’m told that Rep. Brandon Phelps and Sen. Gary Forby both met personally with Gen. Walsh this afternoon on behalf of their district to plead with him to blow that Missouri fuseplug levee today or tonight. *** UPDATE 3 - 3:15 pm *** From the Army Corps of Engineers’ Facebook page…
*** UPDATE 4 - 3:43 pm *** Video from today’s press conference featuring Gov. Quinn and others… Video streaming by Ustream *** UPDATE 5 - 4:31 pm *** Aerial video of the flood zones… * A frustrated, exhausted state Rep. John Bradley just called with a plea to the Army Corps of Engineers: “It’s time to blow the levee” in Missouri to relieve severe flooding pressure on Illinois. Bradley said he’s been participating in sandbagging all weekend, but things are getting worse. “We can’t pump water out fast enough. It’s going over the sandbags,” he said. “Even a foot of relief would make all the difference in these towns,” he said. Old Shawneetown, Olive Branch, Tamms, Grand Tower and Junction are just some of the towns that Bradley said are in serious trouble right now. “We haven’t lost Cairo yet,” he said, “but we’re losing these towns around it.” Bradley also said that the water is rising in and around larger towns like Metropolis, Harrisburg and Carmi. “It’s time to blow that levee,” Bradley said. “Let’s quit waiting.” * Major General Walsh with the Army Corps of Engineers is in Cairo right now meeting with the governor. But Rep. Bradley is clearly frustrated with all the talk about doing something and now wants some action. He certainly has a point. As of noon today, the Ohio River was at 61.15 feet at Cairo. The previous record was 59.5 feet. Have a look… 
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- Palatine - Monday, May 2, 11 @ 12:48 pm:
Say a payer and blow the levee.
- DaveM - Monday, May 2, 11 @ 12:49 pm:
Rich, any stations doing livestreams of Walsh/Cairo/Birds Point?
- 47th Ward - Monday, May 2, 11 @ 12:54 pm:
Rich,
Thanks for your efforts to keep this story front and center. You’re doing great work, and this is an important story. I appreciated all of the weekend updates. This is the only site I’ve encountered that is relentless in its coverage. Thousands of people’s homes and livelihoods hang in the balance. If the Corps doesn’t act soon, this could be a catastrophe.
Unfortunately, maybe then some other news outlets might finally provide some coverage. They’d be wise to start their background research right here.
- Cincinnatus - Monday, May 2, 11 @ 12:56 pm:
Rich’s chart is a link to the NWS website. I recommend the link.
- El Conquistador - Monday, May 2, 11 @ 1:08 pm:
47th - When the Corps acts (it looks pretty likely) there will still be a catastrophe. Please keep those on both sides of the river in your prayers.
- Earth - Monday, May 2, 11 @ 1:09 pm:
No offense intended, but some of these towns only exist because we interfered with nature. Why not leave it alone and let nature run its course?
- phocion - Monday, May 2, 11 @ 1:10 pm:
Rep. Bradley is a good and decent man. This must be killing him. I say “Boycott Missouri!”
- Rich Miller - Monday, May 2, 11 @ 1:11 pm:
===No offense intended===
Try going to just one of these towns, walk into a local cafe and say that.
- cassiopia - Monday, May 2, 11 @ 1:12 pm:
It is hard to understand why they are dithering unless they are waiting for Quinn to finish his photo op in Cairo.
- What the . . . - Monday, May 2, 11 @ 1:13 pm:
You can bet the White House is very much involved on this decision. The simple politics being: do the feds take an unprecedented action to help a very blue state (that easily votes for the President in ‘12)at the expense of a swing state?
I think that levee will still be standing by election time.
- L.S. - Monday, May 2, 11 @ 1:13 pm:
These Missouri officials should be ashamed. These are peoples homes and lives at risk and they are being threatend in part because of a few selfish people.
- amalia - Monday, May 2, 11 @ 1:14 pm:
pobre Cairo, etc. hope the Army Corps finalizes their decision soon, as the status is very bad. more and more rain to add to the already high mark of water. so very difficult and sad.
- 47th Ward - Monday, May 2, 11 @ 1:16 pm:
El Conquistador,
I didn’t intend to minimize the impact on the Missouri side, which will be devastating. However, this is the design that has been in place for decades. The levee system was built for this purpose. Everybody involved understands this. That doesn’t make it easier, but if the Cairo floodwall fails, or another levee fails because we didn’t follow the plan, a worse catastrophe unfolds.
The simple fact is, the Birds Point Levee was built to be breached. It wasn’t built to protect farmland or homes, like some of the other levees and flood control structures.
- Cheryl44 - Monday, May 2, 11 @ 1:17 pm:
Unless those levees come pre-packed with explosives, it’s going to take time to get everything in place.
- hisgirlfriday - Monday, May 2, 11 @ 1:18 pm:
To those more familiar with that area: Is the Tamms prison on high ground down there?
- Rich Miller - Monday, May 2, 11 @ 1:20 pm:
===Unless those levees come pre-packed with explosives, it’s going to take time to get everything in place. ===
They started packing those built-in tubes with explosives yesterday. They should be finished soon.
- soccermom - Monday, May 2, 11 @ 1:26 pm:
@Earth — the problem is, we have created all kinds of levees and other water control systems up and down the river. So there’s no longer a “natural” option. It’s just a matter of deciding which “unnatural” course to pursue.
And here’s a stupid question — why is the water level on the Ohio the deciding factor in blowing the Missouri levee? I understand that Cairo is at the confluence of the two rivers, but how exactly does the Mississippi water affect the Ohio levels, and for how far upriver?
And are there no levees on the Ohio that could be used to control water levels?
(Sorry to need so much help, but I can’t quite understand the geography here.)
- just sayin' - Monday, May 2, 11 @ 1:26 pm:
Don’t know about the others, but I do know Old Shawneetown is pretty much gone anyway. It floods often. All with any sense moved to higher ground long ago.
Cairo and the others, different story. Let’s help them, yes.
- Responsa - Monday, May 2, 11 @ 1:30 pm:
People I encountered over the weekend were barely aware that all of this drama and danger is happening in our very own state and were stunned when I brought it up. There have been a few national news stories in print but almost no TV mention. Thank you for keeping us up to date on the Southern Illinois/Mo flooding situation, Rich.
- El Conquistador - Monday, May 2, 11 @ 1:33 pm:
I agree with you whole-heartedly 47th. It just seems that those on both sides are forgetting that the impact of this is going to be devastating no matter what happens.
- wordslinger - Monday, May 2, 11 @ 1:35 pm:
–You can bet the White House is very much involved on this decision. The simple politics being: do the feds take an unprecedented action to help a very blue state (that easily votes for the President in ‘12)at the expense of a swing state?
I think that levee will still be standing by election time. –
How many moons does your planet have? The Corps has been fighting like crazy all the way to the Supreme Court to blow the levee. The charges are packed.
Shouldn’t a good conspiracy theory have a shred of logic or evidence to it?
- Secret Square - Monday, May 2, 11 @ 1:43 pm:
“There have been a few national news stories in print but almost no TV mention.”
Probably because the ghastly Southern tornado outbreak, with more than 300 confirmed deaths and much more dramatic visuals, took up most of the media’s natural disaster attention until this weekend.
- soccermom - Monday, May 2, 11 @ 1:46 pm:
I noticed that the Nashville floods didn’t get the level of coverage one would expect, either.
- McLean Farmboy - Monday, May 2, 11 @ 1:46 pm:
I’ve been resistant to comment on this story as I don’t want to cast aspersions on anyone’s character unwarrantedly, but the question that keeps coming into my mind as I hear the lengths the MO govt is going to is whether or not the AG or Gov has some kind of stake in this part of MO. I do hope not, but some of their rhetoric just does not make sense to me. This is a tragedy no matter if they blow it or not, but turning this into a political fight helps not at all. Nobody on either side of the river is going to win here.
For those of you that are down there, IL or MO, stay safe. This too shall pass.
- JN - Monday, May 2, 11 @ 1:49 pm:
@soccermom
Heading north to south, there are the two rivers, then Cairo sitting in the center of the Upper-Mississippi + Ohio confluence, and then floodway levee next to the Lower-Mississippi.
Think of the confluence like a big sink with two faucets and two drains. Both faucets are running, but only one drain is open. Blowing the levee will open the other drain and slow/stop/reverse the rising water.
- Louis G. Atsaves - Monday, May 2, 11 @ 1:52 pm:
Either way its going to be huge mess. Blowing the levee sounds like a last resort option. I agree the decision needs to be made to protect and save as many human beings living in that area as possible. What I don’t understand is blaming the individuals who live there or those who want “Mother Nature” to take over.
- soccermom - Monday, May 2, 11 @ 1:54 pm:
thanks, JN. Now I get it.
- Rich Miller - Monday, May 2, 11 @ 1:57 pm:
===Think of the confluence like a big sink with two faucets and two drains.===
Not to mention all those other close-by rivers, which are also rising.
- the Patriot - Monday, May 2, 11 @ 2:08 pm:
The exposives were scheduled to be in place by noon. Heavy rains through the night delayed action. Local “rumor” says at 3:00 she blows.
FYI, the crest in Cairo this morning was predited at 61.5. It is now predicted to be 63. This is not an exact science and as you can see the predictions change as variables change. If you listen closely to the Corps of Engineers a lot of what is keeping the water level low was upstream dams holding back water. Those were all at capacity before the 4 inches of rain last night.
The fact is, they can blow this thing and it still may be too little and/or too late.
- nieva - Monday, May 2, 11 @ 2:14 pm:
Rich, I am a neighbor to John Bradleys Uncle. His house has just been lost to the flood water. It was sandbagged but the water is rising to quickly. There is water in places that I have never seen before in my 56 years living here. This flood is already 3ft higher that in 97. We have the perfect storm here with the Ohio, Wabash, and the Mississippi all at some of the highest levels in 50 years. Pray for sunshine and hope that the levees hold in Cairo and the other river towns. The Bradleys are from Junction by the way.
- Anon - Monday, May 2, 11 @ 2:39 pm:
And if you look at the radar, it’s pouring down there again.
- Rich Miller - Monday, May 2, 11 @ 2:41 pm:
It’s raining hard down there.
The other thing to think about is that whenever it rains in the entire drainage basin, at least some of that water goes by Cairo.
- Oscar - Monday, May 2, 11 @ 2:51 pm:
The suspense is terrible. I hope it will last!
- Michelle Flaherty - Monday, May 2, 11 @ 2:55 pm:
Just Sayin;,
it’s called Old Shawneetown for a reason.
- WHAT? - Monday, May 2, 11 @ 2:58 pm:
————Don’t know about the others, but I do know Old Shawneetown is pretty much gone anyway.——— This is not true. We have dear friends that live there and would give you the shirt off their back. Not one town is more important than any other. BTW - They just called for Emergency Evac in Old Shawneetown….
- ugh - Monday, May 2, 11 @ 3:00 pm:
I’m a little surprised (well, not really that suprised) that Quinn isn’t taking more of an interest in this story. It doesn’t matter that the flooding is only affecting a portion of downstate - all of downstate is looking at this and will realize that he doesn’t give a damn about them. The other shocking thing is that this is starting to impact Carmi, which is the hometown to many Quinn insiders. You think that might motivate him a little.
- TimB - Monday, May 2, 11 @ 3:01 pm:
Someone mentions the dams upriver from Cairo. Kentucky lake and Barkley lake discharge into the Tennessee and Cumberland rivers then into the Ohio R at Paducah and Smithland, upriver from Cairo. Both of those lakes are at record levels and may threaten the integrity of the dams. If they are forced to dump water to save those dams, that will add even more pressure to the Cairo/downstream levees. That whole drainage system there is overloaded. My son works in MO for one of the agencies. There is another lake, far removed from the Mississippi crisis that is inches from overtopping the spillway. When it goes, several hundred homes and people are at great risk. The resources are not there to deal with that possibility right now. Blow the levee at Bird’s Point so that resources can be moved to other needy places.
- El Conquistador - Monday, May 2, 11 @ 3:13 pm:
Corps just tweeted that a decision will be announced at 5 pm.
- hisgirlfriday - Monday, May 2, 11 @ 3:16 pm:
From the AP:
The Army Corps of Engineers said Monday it would announce its intentions at 5 p.m. CDT. If the corps decides to break the flood wall, the actual demolition is expected to begin about three hours later at the Birds Point levee.
- CircularFiringSquad - Monday, May 2, 11 @ 3:44 pm:
Capt fax
will anyone put the Corps presser on that internet?
- Illinois Geologist - Monday, May 2, 11 @ 3:48 pm:
==why is the water level on the Ohio the deciding factor in blowing the Missouri levee?==
While we think of the Mississippi as the bigger river, it is actually the Ohio. The record flood on the Miss. was appx 1,000,000 cubic feet per second. The current (now record) flow on the Ohio is over 1,200,000 cubic feet per second. Also, large flows on the Mississippi will back up the Ohio and raise the gauge at Cairo. So the gauge on the Ohio will indicate the position of the water all around the city.
- Rich Miller - Monday, May 2, 11 @ 3:54 pm:
===will anyone put the Corps presser on that internet? ===
Trying to find it as we speak.
- Deep South - Monday, May 2, 11 @ 3:58 pm:
Yes, it’s been raining all day…shoot it’s been raining and storming for about two weeks. No one really pays attention anymore when the tornado siren go off…happen almost everyday it seems. Its been a long slow beating…death by a thousand cuts. Well, maybe not death, but it’s been brutal.
- Illinois Geologist - Monday, May 2, 11 @ 4:04 pm:
Correction to above post: The Ohio River flow at Cairo is now almost 1,800,000 cubic feet per second, almost twice the flow on the near record Mississippi. (The Ohio is a much bigger river in terms of flow.)
- Peter - Monday, May 2, 11 @ 4:18 pm:
Report from Metropolis from an NWS contributor:
(3:57 PM) em-beau.dodson: 3 PM April, 2, 2011: Metropolis, Illinois: Flood/flash flood. Water over many roadways - creeks and streams are full or over their banks. Ditches are full. Standing and flowing water on a number of roads including portions of Highway 45, North Avenue, Mermet Road, Carter Drive, Crestview Drive, Hope Lane, 21st street, 12th street, Pullen Road, Oak Street, 7th street, Yasoha Drive, William Street, East 6th Street, and many many more roads. Flash flooding on Yasoda Street with water half way up cars. Water is several feet deep - water is now surrounding Spence Apartments in the City of Metropolis, Illinois - numerous residents are leaving or have left. A number of businesses on 5th street are now sand bagging. North Avenue water is now surrounding numerous homes and a church. Water is now 1′ deep on North Avenue near the Crestview and Carter Drive area. Several homes are now flooding with water into the homes - a number of mobile homes are flooding or have been surrounded by water. Portions of Woodhaven Subdivision are now flooding - east side of town. Numerous homes now are threatened with water or are flooding on the Highway 45 and Dead Mans Curve area before you get into Metropolis - coming in off the interstate. Portions of Highway 45 east bound lands are completely covered with water and are now blocked with cones. This is near the Linwood Motors area of Metropolis - north of Fort Massac State Park. There are 50+ trucks lined up on 5th street and around to another street now awaiting sand bags. Line of trucks is many blocks long - national guard and volunteers are trying to keep up but there is not enough help. Some areas with water half way up the cars had no water this morning. Rain continues to fall. Dire situation for many residents. Grim.
- Rich Miller - Monday, May 2, 11 @ 4:19 pm:
WKYX says they’ll carry it live, but there’s no link on their site as of yet. http://www.wkyx.com/
- Wensicia - Monday, May 2, 11 @ 4:21 pm:
I agree with Bradley, what are they waiting for??
- Barton Lorimor - Monday, May 2, 11 @ 4:24 pm:
Rich, portions of U.S. 51 have been closed as far north as De Soto as flood waters from the Big Muddy River have washed over the road. I drove by there yesterday and it was a good ten feet away from the road. It was still high, but that should speak volumes for how much water we’ve had just in under 24 hours.
- Peter - Monday, May 2, 11 @ 5:03 pm:
Crap, broke the page…sorry. There’s a link on KFVS.com front page at the top as well.
- Rich Miller - Monday, May 2, 11 @ 11:05 pm:
What the . . . , you’ve now earned the distinction of being the worst prognosticator on the blog. Congrats.