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* From the St. Louis Post-Dispatch…
At a shelter for flood victims Tuesday evening, refugees were stunned by news footage of a Missouri farmer comparing the damage that resulted from the destruction of a levee with the loss of a child.
“The crops? What about us? What are we supposed to do?” yelled William Reese, 55, sitting in a gymnasium at Shawnee Community College in Ullin, near Cairo. Reese was among dozens of other people who had fled homes in Cairo.
“You can always get farmland, but you can’t replace human lives. They did the right thing by blowing that levee.”
After days of public outcry and debate about saving fertile Missouri farmland or this impoverished city of 3,000 people at the confluence of the Ohio and Mississippi rivers, the Army Corps of Engineers blew a large hole in the Birds Point Levee late Monday night.
I’ve seen that comparison of “fertile” Missouri farmland and impoverished Cairo all over the media. Too rarely will any of those outlets even briefly explain that the Birds Point-New Madrid Floodway fuseplug levee was built in order to be demolished in this very type of crisis. For crying out loud, the levee was constructed with hollow tubes inside specifically designed to hold explosives. Far too rarely do they ever point out that the federal government bought the flooding rights to that land decades ago. Not nearly enough do they note that a conservative federal judge (Limbaugh), an appeals court and a conservative (Alito) US Supreme Court justice all pretty much immediately dismissed Missouri’s groundless lawsuit to halt the blast. And almost never are Cairo’s middle class residents portrayed in their stories.
You can’t have an honest public debate without basic information. There’s been a serious media failure here. It’s quite depressing.
* By the way, as of 6 o’clock this morning, the Ohio River was at 59.85 feet at Cairo. That’s way down, thankfully. Here’s the chart…
* Meanwhile, on a far less important note, Illinois Review posted a story about the Illinois DREAM Act last night and bolded this excerpt from a college newspaper story from last Friday…
Lastly, the bill will provide driving certification to undocumented students so they can have permit and an identification card, reducing the number of uninsured drivers.
That provision did not make the final bill. All you gotta do is perform a quick browser search of the bill, or even, gasp, read it. I mean, why do they think all the Republicans on the Senate Executive Committee (including Bill Brady) voted for the thing? C’mon, guys.
Mistakes happen. We all make them. We’re human. I am way too often not immune myself. And I wouldn’t normally even say anything because it’s their shop and they can do what they want, but this is two days in a row now that the publication has run extremely inflammatory and very misleading propaganda about significant legislation which could’ve been avoided by briefly scanning the bills in question.
…Adding… IR has now corrected itself.
posted by Rich Miller
Wednesday, May 4, 11 @ 7:32 am
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There were 0 votes in opposition to the dream act in committee. That is equal to the amount of hits the white sox had last night.
Comment by Easy Wednesday, May 4, 11 @ 7:44 am
Easy is trying to get hisself banned, I see.
Comment by Rich Miller Wednesday, May 4, 11 @ 7:49 am
Mourning the loss of ‘farmland’ compared to the devastation flood victims are facing is almost obscene. These same farmers will benefit off the federal government for their losses, what are they crying about? Do they really pretend they’re victims rather than willing participants of flood plain management? The media is over-playing this angle way too far, in my opinion.
Comment by Wensicia Wednesday, May 4, 11 @ 8:12 am
Excellent ongoing coverage and analysis of the flood story Rich.
I would only add that Missouri river bottom land is fertile precisely thanks to flooding. It’s northern loam top soil being dispersed over that land over eons via regular flooding since the ice age.
Sounds like some of those farmers want only the upside of flooding and none of the downside.
They’ll probably come out better with gov’t/insurance payments anyway.
Illinois rules.
Comment by just sayin' Wednesday, May 4, 11 @ 8:16 am
There were 0 votes in opposition to the dream act in committee. That is equal to the amount of hits the white sox had last night
I seriously LOL’d at this.
As for IR… the last two “mistakes” surely are not the first two. They do stuff like this all the time, and then often refuse to even correct their mistakes.
Comment by dave Wednesday, May 4, 11 @ 8:42 am
Why is it important to note that conservative judges heard these cases?
Comment by Packet Wednesday, May 4, 11 @ 9:05 am
Packet, have you ever studied the notion of “context”? It often lends a great deal to your grasp of the issue and the decisions made about the issue.
Comment by Mongo Wednesday, May 4, 11 @ 9:09 am
Something else that is not emphasized nearly enough is that the Birds Point/New Madrid floodway plan doesn’t benefit ONLY Cairo… it relieves flooding pressure on MANY other river communities, and has impact downstream in Arkansas, Tennessee, etc. I expect it has some impact all the way down to the Morganza floodway in LA (the next one that could be activated).
Comment by Secret Square Wednesday, May 4, 11 @ 9:16 am
Packet:
It would seem that today’s conservatives are very concerned about “government.” The idea that government would intervene just doesn’t sit well with many of them…they would rather let market forces determine any outcome. I suspect you know that.
The thing is, however, the whole Mississippi - Ohio River navigation system is pretty much a government entity. To let one small portion be guided by “market forces” doesn’t really play well when considering the whole system. These “conservative” judges understand this and ruled accordingly.
So, I take it you don’t think it important to note the judges were conservative. Why?
Comment by Deep South Wednesday, May 4, 11 @ 9:21 am
This story was OK: http://www.npr.org/2011/05/04/135977486/army-cops-floods-missouri-farmland
The story points out and the farmers acknowledge that the gov’t has flowage/flood easements on their property. What the farmers do not acknowledge and the reporter does not explain is that the through-flow (from Cairo to New Madrid) is the important hydrologic function of the floodway. It allows a significant portion of the water to bypass an artificially restricted portion of the Mississippi Valley. (In the story, a farmer suggests the water should be allowed to back up into the floodway from the south.)
One of my biggest concerns in these news stories is the lack of comment from geologists (and, perhaps, engineers) who could explain the flooding, the impact of human activity on the situation, and what the floodway is and why its use is necessary.
Comment by Illinois Geologist Wednesday, May 4, 11 @ 9:31 am
I don’t think I have seen it mentioned anywhere that this levee was blown up in 1937 too. This is very interesting.
http://web.mst.edu/~rogersda/levees/Evolution%20of%20the%20Levee%20System%20Along%20the%20Mississippi.pdf
Scroll down to the part about the 1928 Federal Flood Control Act. There is a good description of the Birds Point Levee.
Comment by maddem Wednesday, May 4, 11 @ 9:58 am
IL Geo:
You mean, you’re concerned that the news media looks at the political and human side of an issue without looking at the underlying facts of the situation or bringing in scientific experts to explain things in detail? Why, that would be elitist, to think that SOME people know more than the rest of us about something!
I have had enough interaction with ACE and the Comprehensive Plan to understand that when the engineers say something is a good/bad idea, then it’s a good/bad idea. Theories about government’s role and property rights are important, but they don’t hold up in the face of a raging river as well as engineering know how.
Comment by Colossus Wednesday, May 4, 11 @ 10:02 am
***Note to self, trying to insert a fake HTML tag for doesn’t work!***
Comment by Colossus Wednesday, May 4, 11 @ 10:05 am
Illinois Review has often been wrong in their reported “facts”, in areas where I have direct personal knowledge. Unfortunately, this undermines their political commentary. Thanks Rich, for taking the time to get it right.
Comment by walkinfool Wednesday, May 4, 11 @ 10:13 am
I’m not sure you can chalk this up to some sort of bias. I think it’s more a result of minimal effort. Yeah, reporters don’t generally understand the science or history underlying a story like this, but they also don’t care. All they want is a quick story. It’s far easier to just interview a few people, slap together a shallow narrative about tragedy, and rush it to print. This was a problem even before news staffs were slashed.
“He said, she said” journalism is a problem in that it’s shallow and can create a false sense of equivalence, as it did here. But it isn’t just an effort to maintain apparent neutrality. Its also often the path of least resistance.
Comment by jaranath Wednesday, May 4, 11 @ 10:22 am
Once the heat of the moment has passed, perhaps we can work in our own enlightened self interest and offer the residents of these depressed flood prone cities enough money to build new housing on high ground, so these artificially panicked decisions do not have to be made.
Ultimately, people should not live in areas where their lives are threatened on a regular basis.
Comment by Plutocrat03 Wednesday, May 4, 11 @ 10:26 am
I don’t know, jaranath. This NYT story (http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/04/us/04levee.html?hp) looks reasonably thoroughly reported, but doesn’t mention a thing about Cairo, the easements or anything else. Pure human suffering, which is damn important but completely without context here.
Our geologist is right, a little science would be good, here.
Even better would be if the IL elected officials would find a way to get our (side of the river’s) story heard.
Comment by scorekeeper Wednesday, May 4, 11 @ 10:28 am
I’m not sure what linkage insurance has to having a driving license anyway. I pass at least 2 businesses every day that offer insurance to folks without a license.
I figure, I’m better off if the unlicensed driver that hits me has insurance.
Comment by cermak_rd Wednesday, May 4, 11 @ 10:32 am
scorekeeper:
Certainly, I agree that’s a factor too. I shouldn’t have implied that it’s always frazzled reporters trying to whip something out. I just think it’s a frequent occurrence. I’m sure that even those who can or want to do better often still aren’t interested in the technical stuff.
Plutocrat03:
There are programs that do what you suggest, but I have no idea if they’ll apply here. At least on the Missouri side. I think the affected area may not be eligible for them, and the funding is probably limited. It might take special intervention (act of congress, etc) and even then, how’d the homes get there in the first place? It’ll be hard to generate interest in helping the locals clear the floodplain if they seem likely to let new development move back in.
Comment by jaranath Wednesday, May 4, 11 @ 10:41 am
Before I am attacked and maligned for something that I probably shouldn’t express, let me say that blowing up the levee was the right thing to do. That being said, there are too many of these towns built on rivers that constantly are under siege from flood waters and cost the taxpayers too much money and time for decisions they make to continue to live in dangerous areas.
No doubt I will be assailed as insensitive or worse, but there is a reason that some towns get “moved” and rebuilt in safer areas.
Comment by LincolnLounger Wednesday, May 4, 11 @ 10:47 am
–Even better would be if the IL elected officials would find a way to get our (side of the river’s) story heard. –
We went 3 for 3 in the federal courts.
Jaranath is correct, though, about shallow “he said/she said” journalism. It’s easy, it’s cheap, and it feeds the elephant.
A notable exception to that kind of journalism ran over the weekend in the Washington Post.
“Running in the red: How the U.S., on the road to surplus, detoured to massive debt” is a comprehensive, detailed and convincing overview on the federal governments borrow and spend fiscal policies of last 10 years. No cable yakker talking points, just facts and analysis.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/running-in-the-red-how-the-us-on-the-road-to-surplus-detoured-to-massive-debt/2011/04/28/AFFU7rNF_story.html
Comment by wordslinger Wednesday, May 4, 11 @ 10:50 am
I have serious trouble with the fact that the Missouri farmers were allowed to build houses in this flood plain even though they could get neither insurance nor mortgages for the construction. 1st, shouldn’t this have been a hint and 2nd, why wouldn’t construction of homes be prohibited–if not before, then certainly in hereafter.
Comment by D.P. Gumby Wednesday, May 4, 11 @ 10:54 am
@DP
Go to St.Charles County, Missouri and look at all the development that has taken place in that flood plain since the Great Flood of 1993.
Comment by Leave a light on George Wednesday, May 4, 11 @ 11:39 am
Thanks for this Rich. I’ve read a bunch of articles about this. I had assumed there was a reason they called it a “floodway”, but nobody came out and said it.
Comment by Irv & Ashland Wednesday, May 4, 11 @ 11:49 am
Nothing to attack or malign, LincolnLounger. The problem is that many of these communities predate efforts to manage floodplains, local enforcement can be spotty in some areas (or nonexistent, if they decide to opt out of NFIP), the regs do technically allow some development if done properly (which I think is still a bad idea for a bunch of reasons), and we have developers and legislators who push very hard to get exceptions so they can do things like put nursing homes on cheap floodplain, nevermind the horror stories from Katrina.
So…yeah. It’s better than it was, but still quite flawed. But then, who are you to tell somebody they can’t build where they want…some kinda elitist?!
Comment by jaranath Wednesday, May 4, 11 @ 11:53 am
Scorekeeper,
You just refreshed my memory. There’s something else that makes that particular article and its omissions even more interesting. It’s written by the scion of the Sulzberger family that owns the New York Times.
Ah, nepotism!
Comment by Irv & Ashland Wednesday, May 4, 11 @ 11:53 am
As mentioned above, floodplain regulation varies quite a bit. If the floodway is not in the NFIP, there is probably no restriction on building. The folks who build there know they aren’t covered, but build anyway and then hope for the best. That’s why they fought the demo of the fuseplug portion of the levee.
Lest we get too sanctimonious with respect to our friends in Missouri, recall the ongoing battle in the East St. Louis area. Deterioration of the levee system and recalculation of flood stage and recurrence intervals puts much of the area into the *100 year flood plain.* The implications of this (legal and financial) have led political leaders to fight the new designation. That doesn’t change the risk, but it does allow people to stay in harms way without responding (ie. with better engineering or better insurance).
Comment by Illinois Geologist Wednesday, May 4, 11 @ 12:44 pm
Geologist:
Yeah, the Metro East situation is a real mess. I’m sure there’s a joke in there somewhere about rivers and denial, but I don’t have much of a funnybone.
Comment by jaranath Wednesday, May 4, 11 @ 1:27 pm
I’m sure that Illinois Geologist will correct me if I’m mistaken, but I’m guessing the only reason this “fertile Missouri farmland” is fertile in the first place is because it used to flood all of the time naturally, leaving deposits of fertile top soil and humus from upstream in its wake.
THAT is a point that shouldn’t be lost on anyone either.
Comment by Yellow Dog Democrat Wednesday, May 4, 11 @ 1:38 pm
Encroachment on or into the floodplain is a real problem. Every time a shovel full of dirt is placed in or near a designated floodplain the water will be displaced. Downstream entities will continue to see the downside. Serious consideration should be given to reoccupying the areas now vacated. I wonder if the Valmeyer history could alleviate future costs and current expenses as well as risk of life.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Valmeyer,_Illinois
Comment by Larry Mullholland Wednesday, May 4, 11 @ 1:44 pm
I just read the NYT story. And I just threw up in my mouth. Lots of gnarled fingers bone-weary from honest toil. Not much reporting on more difficult stuff, like law and things.
Comment by soccermom Wednesday, May 4, 11 @ 1:48 pm
@Illinois Geologist -
Anyone who builds their business near a town named “Pontoon Beach” really HAS to expect the flood waters in their lifetime.
Comment by Yellow Dog Democrat Wednesday, May 4, 11 @ 3:46 pm
Pretty bad when your own governor has to be chastised into coming back to “act” like he cares about Cairo and surrounding villages and towns that are flooding. Perhaps some tv station should run footage of Quinn smiling and waving as he solicited Southern Illinois voters during elections alongside him disrespecting them this week. Want to take bets on how many lower state Democrats are going to turn Republican in the next election? Maybe we should solicit a wrestling team or two: Highwater Haters versus Floodplain Fight Club?
Comment by DownSouth Wednesday, May 4, 11 @ 9:36 pm
Not to let facts get in the way of a good story, but I took the liberty to look up Mississippi County, MO in the 2007 Ag Census. These are the top 5 crops in terms of land use in the county.
Soybeans: 143,739 Ac, 33.1 Bu/Ac, Irrigated; Farms46.2%, Acres23.4%
Corn: 83,300 Ac, 178.3 Bu/Ac, Irrigated; Farms59.3%, Acres44.3%
Wheat: 49,564 Ac, 44.5 Bu/Ac, Irrigated; Farms31.0%, Acres30.0%
Sorghum: 6,237 Ac, 108.8 Bu/Ac, Irrigated; Farms19.5%, Acres7.3%
Vegetables: 4,874 Ac, $2,302/Ac, Irrigated; Farms62.5%, Acres91.6%
These numbers would put it on a par with Alexander County in Southwest Illinois. Not bad ground, but it certainly is not like Central or Northern IL or Northern MO.
What the numbers cannot tell us is whether the floodplain is representitive, above average or below average in their county.
Comment by McLean Farmboy Thursday, May 5, 11 @ 9:55 am