Environment & Energy

Sherman A1

(38,958 posts) Sat May 4, 2019, 10:19 AM May 2019

River Town Mayors Nervously Watch Rising Water, Want More Funding For Flood Prevention

Civic leaders along the Mississippi River are bracing for near-record flood levels in the coming days and weeks.

Mayors in Missouri and Illinois say federal programs that aim to prevent flood damage need more funding to adequately support river towns that face evacuation and income loss.

Flooding in Alton is expected to crest next week at 35.2 feet, the fifth-highest flood level on record, according to the National Weather Service. The river at Grafton is expected to reach the fourth-highest flood level on record for the city. River levels at both Illinois towns are expected to exceed levees and rise within 10 feet of historic levels reached during the Great Flood of ’93.

In Grafton on Friday, roads were already closing, people were already evacuating, and water was approaching the city hall, said its mayor, Rick Eberlin

https://news.stlpublicradio.org/post/river-town-mayors-nervously-watch-rising-water-want-more-funding-flood-prevention

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River Town Mayors Nervously Watch Rising Water, Want More Funding For Flood Prevention (Original Post) Sherman A1 May 2019 OP

I do not understand this. Srkdqltr May 2019 #1

And flood mitigation efforts end up making the flood worse downstream. OnlinePoker May 2019 #2

Srkdqltr

(6,299 posts)

1. I do not understand this.

Reply to Sherman A1 (Original post)

Sat May 4, 2019, 10:33 AM

May 2019

They keep building on the flood plain then cry about the flood. This time move permanently to higher ground.

OnlinePoker

(5,723 posts)

2. And flood mitigation efforts end up making the flood worse downstream.

Reply to Srkdqltr (Reply #1)

Sat May 4, 2019, 12:07 PM

May 2019

Instead of allowing rivers to crest naturally and spread onto the floodplains upstream, the channels are lined with dykes. This forces more water to pass down the waterway and exacerbate the flooding once the dykes breach because they can't hold back the torrents. It also destroys the natural cycles of floods which refill wetland habitats and allow nutrients from the rivers to spread onto the floodplain.

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