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Friday, Apr 29, 2011 - Posted by Rich Miller

* I’ll post flood/levee/court updates as warranted. In the meantime, here’s an e-mail from a reader…

Dear Mr. Miller,

Thank you for posting so much information about Cairo. I’m in Cairo still. I own a home here. The most frustrating part of this ordeal is the lack of information coming from our city leaders. If not for my 21-year-old daughter hearing info from friends, we’d know nothing.

This morning I spoke with George Bell, the owner of Bell Monument in Cairo, and he said that is the most frustrating thing for him, too. He has records dating back 70 years in his office & he doesn’t know how high we are supposed to move everything. Same with me. I spent the past few days moving everything I could, from my basement & garage. Then stacked everything on tables & beds on the first floor. Sadly, a St. Louis news station interviewed someone who said if the Cairo levee fails the entire town will be under 15-20 feet of water. If that’s true, I’ve been wasting my time. Or, do I need to move valuables to my second floor? I don’t know.

George & I wish the city would hold a town hall meeting at City Hall to inform those of us still here. George contacted Marty, in charge of emergency services… but nothing is planned.

I rented a motel in Sikeston, Missouri for 5 days for my kids, but I’m a single mom & want to try to save what we have. That’s why I’m still here. My sons are on their way from Peoria to help with sandbagging.

I got off topic:) I’m writing to say thank you for covering Cairo & not doing what most news stations are: portraying Cairo as poor & black. We are more than that, but even if it was true… it still should be saved.

If you have pull with the Corps of Engineers, please tell them to blast the Birds Point levee ASAP!:D

Our homes are important. They are filled with memories & it’s where our children return for holidays and when they need to be with family.

My advice to her was to get the heck outta there. Whatever happens, best of luck to her, all of Cairo and all of southern Illinois as everybody deals with this devastating flood.

* Stay safe, stay dry. And whatever you do, don’t crash on the levee…

It’s gonna be the meanest flood
That anybody’s seen

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*** UPDATED x9 - Missouri to appeal - Sand boils - DNR praised - Regional IEMA problems - Simon & Durbin headed to Cairo - Photos - The Corps’ dire warning - IRMA sending “truckloads” of supplies to region - VIDEO: Durbin warns about MO appeal - VIDEO: Phelps to MO: Back off - IEMA responds *** Judge rules against Missouri

Friday, Apr 29, 2011 - Posted by Rich Miller

* Federal Judge Stephen Limbaugh has ruled that the Army Corps of Engineers can blow the Misssouri fuseplug levee and relieve flooding pressure on Cairo…

Limbaugh wrote that he found that the Corps is committed to implementing the plan only as essential to provide protection to all citizens. He wrote “this Court finds that no aspect of the Corps’ response to these historic floods suggests arbitrary or capricious decision-making is occurring.”

The Corps plans to decide this weekend whether to blow up the Birds Point levee, depending on the level of the water on the river. It will detonate explosives in the levee if the Cairo river reaches 61 feet. At 8 a.m. CDT (1300 GMT) on Friday, it was at 59 feet and forecast to rise to 60.5 feet, according to the National Weather Service.

Attorney General Lisa Madigan’s office just told me they are prepared in case Missouri decides to appeal Judge Limbaugh’s ruling.

While good news, the situation is really precarious all over that region. I’ll have more in a while.

*** UPDATE 1 - 12:30 pm *** The morons are appealing…

NOTICE OF APPEAL

Notice is hereby given that Plaintiffs State of Missouri ex rel. Chris Koster, the Missouri Department of Natural Resources, and the Missouri State Emergency Management Agency, appeal to the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit from the judgment entered in this action denying a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction on the 29th day of April, 2011.

From the Illinois AG’s office…

We will be ready to respond very quickly to oppose Missouri’s attempt to overturn the District Court’s decision.

From Gov. Pat Quinn’s office…

“My hope is that this decision will be upheld as it proceeds through the judicial process.”

*** UPDATE 2 - 12:36 pm *** I’m hearing reports of sand boils in several locations starting late last night. A huge one was in Cairo. These are not good things. Wikipedia…

Sand boils or Sand Volcanoes occur when water under pressure wells up through a bed of sand. The water looks like it is “boiling” up from the bed of sand, hence the name.

Sand boils can be a mechanism contributing to levee failure during floods. This effect is caused by a difference in pressure on two sides of a levee or dike, most likely during a flood. This process can result in piping, whereby the removal of soil particles results in a pipe through the embankment. The creation of the pipe will quickly pick up pace and will eventually result in failure of the embankment.

A sand boil is difficult to stop. The most effective method is by creating a body of water above the boil to create enough pressure to slow the flow of water. A slower flow will not be able to move soil particles. The body of water is often created with sandbags forming a ring around the boil.

*** UPDATE 3 - 12:39 pm*** I’m told by several people on the ground that the Department of Natural Resources is doing an outstanding job. “DNR has saved a lot of towns down here,” said one area pol, who added that DNR’s crews are working their tails off.

The Department of Corrections is being praised for sending out their inmate crews. The State Police are also being praised.

There’s a real problem, however, with the regional director of the Illinois Emergency Management Agency. The regional guy is from Chicago and I’m told by three different people down there that he can’t even pronounce many of the town names in his area, much less know where they are or what to do. Also, IEMA pulled out of Olive Branch last night in order to head to higher ground. DNR stayed put and fought.

*** UPDATE 4 - 12:45 pm*** Lt. Gov. Sheila Simon is heading to Cairo with Sen. Dick Durbin as I write this. From a press release…

Lt. Governor Sheila Simon will join with U.S. Senator Dick Durbin in Cairo today to tour the most vulnerable areas of the town. After a brief driving tour, they will arrive at the intersection of 15th Street and Cedar Street, where they will take a walking tour and meet with local officials. A media availability will then be held at 12th Street and Commercial Avenue. Following the media availability, Lt. Governor Simon will join with Alexander County Sheriff Timothy Brown to help sandbag along the river.

*** UPDATE 5 - 1:05 pm*** I’m getting some photos taken from Sen. Durbin’s helicopter. I’ll be posting them over the next several minutes. Here is Grand Tower…

* 8 miles north of Cape Girardeau, MO…

* Union County, IL…

* Route 3 in Alexander County, IL…

* More Alexander County…

* Ohio River…

* And here come the Cairo photos…

* This is right next to Cairo…

* Interstate 57 right outside Cairo…

* 1:37 pm - They just landed, so ground-level pics will be coming soon, I hope.

* Here are a couple of Cairo sinkholes…

* A sinkhole closeup…

* Another angle…

* I’m told there are between 6 and 7 of these sandboils downtown.

*** UPDATE 6 - 2:05 pm*** Jim Pogue, spokesman for the Memphis District of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers was on AgriTalk today and had some dire things to say about the levee system. Listen…

Click to download

“We don’t want things to happen in an uncontrolled fashion,” Pogue said. “If we had an uncontrolled levee failure, potentially much worse damage could occur.”

If a particular levee north of the Missouri floodway were to breach, the river could flow over “literally millions of acres.” Several communities are in that area. A large section of the boot heel of Missouri and northeastern Arkansas could flood as well, he warned.

*** UPDATE 7 - 2:40 pm *** I had heard earlier today that the Illinois Retail Merchants Association had really stepped forward to help with the flood-fighting efforts, so I called Dave Vite, who runs IRMA.

Vite said his member retailers have sent “truckloads” of supplies to the region in the past three days. Kroger and WalMart have supplied bottled water, for instance. Sears and Home Depot have sent other supplies, like gloves, life vests and lots more. “They ask, we try to find something to fill a need,” Vite said.

Vite said he wasn’t one to brag about his association all that much, but did say “When the chips are down our industry always steps up and comes up with the things that people really need.”

*** UPDATE 8 - 2:45 pm *** This is a cellphone video, so the quality isn’t very good, but here is Sen. Durbin talking to the media about Missouri’s decision to appeal Judge Limbaugh’s ruling. “If this is going to turn out to be a battle of the lawyers on both sides of the river, a lot of innocent people could be harmed,” Durbin said. Watch…

*** UPDATE 9 - 2:50 pm *** Here’s another video of Lt. Gov. Sheila Simon, Sen. Gary Forby and Rep. Brandon Phelps. Rep. Phelps said he hoped Missouri would “back off” the appeal and said “every hour is critical.” Watch…

*** UPDATE 10 - 3:18 pm *** IEMA responds…

Rich – I saw the item on the blog regarding IEMA’s response to the flooding in Alexander County. I wanted to let you know what the actual situation is down there.

There are actually 10 emergency management personnel on the ground in Alexander County (two IEMA personnel and eight personnel from local emergency management agencies outside the affected region working with us on the response). They continue to work closely with the other state agencies on the scene, local emergency management and local officials, the Army Corps of Engineers and the American Red Cross on response efforts. The only thing that was relocated was our mobile command vehicle, which was moved to higher ground early this morning because the water was rising and the equipment could be threatened. That equipment is still being used for the response in Alexander County.

* This Cairo levee photo was taken two days ago…

From the photog…

Facing south from the top of the levee at 8th Street. Ohio River is almost to the top. Top=64 feet… so about 58 feet.

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No Cairo visit by Quinn

Friday, Apr 29, 2011 - Posted by Rich Miller

* Imagine, if it’s at all possible, that you’re a poor, black resident of Cairo, Illinois. The floodwaters are almost to the top of your local levee. The attorney general in the next state over is suing to prevent the federal government from blowing a key fuseplug levee to keep your town from drowning. And the federal judge presiding over the decision to save your home is Rush Limbaugh’s cousin.

Not exactly optimum.

I figure I’d be feeling more than a little scared, helpless and forelorn right now if I lived in Cairo. I’d also probably want a little encouragement from the state’s top dog while forces beyond my control were conspiring against me.

But Gov. Pat Quinn didn’t visit Cairo yesterday. He flew over the town in his helicopter. His staff says there was no place to land. Sen. Dick Durbin is reportedly choppering into Cairo today, but Quinn’s people says he won’t be going. He went to southern Illinois yesterday, they said. The governor has no scheduled events on today’s public schedule.

Quinn appeared in Marion, a few minutes from the town’s airport, to discuss the flooding yesterday. During his appearance, he was asked what towns he intended to visit. Quinn compared himself to General George Marshall, who was Army Chief of Staff during World War ll. Watch…

Marshall was not a front line guy. True. But he was chief of staff. Quinn has a chief of staff and agency directors to handle the micromanagement. In my opinion, he ought to be out there showing some support for his constituents.

Yours?

* Meanwhile, here’s the best report I could find about what happened in Judge Limbaugh’s court last night…

Judge Stephen Limbaugh took the motion under advisement just after 7 p.m. Thursday, and Koster says the judge has a tough call to make.

“It’s a hard set of facts and there are a lot of interests that have to be weighed on both sides of the state line and throughout the federal justice system, said Koster. I think the judge took in the information. I think he’s got a very difficult decision that he has to make overnight.”

For its part, Corps lawyers countered they have “unreviewable discretion” when it comes to implementing the floodway plan that “could” result in the blasting of that levee.

They also stressed the blasting option does not come into play unless and until the river overtops the levee at its lowest points, or 60.5 feet.

Federal Judge Stephen Limbaugh told the court he’s not sure if he even has the authority to rule on the motion under current case law.

We could get a ruling today.

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