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High River puts New Orleans on Alert
by René | March 23, 2008 at 01:25 pm | 685 views | 3 comments
by Sheila Grissett and Mark Schleifstein, The Times-Picayune, Thursday March 20, 2008, 9:06 PMRecent heavy rains in the Midwest, combined with the last melting winter snows, will swell the Mississippi River to an expected crest at 16.5 feet in New Orleans by April 9, high enough to place local emergency officials on guard for potential river levee problems.
The crest will be about half a foot below the point designated as official flood stage at the Carrollton gauge in New Orleans, although a combination of levees and floodwalls protects the city to 20 feet at that location.
Hydrologists with the National Weather Service's Lower Mississippi River Forecast Center in Slidell warned Thursday that, although no rain is forecast in the Mississippi and Ohio river valleys in the next few days, if heavy rains fall in that area during the next three weeks it could push the river even higher in New Orleans.
"Once it gets to 16 feet, we start getting a little worried," said Bob Turner, regional executive director of the Southeast Louisiana Flood Protection Authority East, after briefing the authority Thursday.
At least this time, the Times-Picaune is not trivializing the threat to New Orleans. I refer to the terrible flood of 1927, which led to the policies which deal with the river, levees, and other 'protections'.
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March 23, 2008 at 01:25 pm by René, 685 views, 3 comments
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Comments (3)
at 13:51 on March 23rd, 2008
René, I like this story. It's good stuff.
at 15:28 on March 23rd, 2008
René, I like this story. It's good stuff.
How close are you to the flooding zone? Are you safe?
at 17:01 on March 23rd, 2008
Thanks for this, Rene.
I think this is an important story and would benefit from other NowPublic contributors working on it. I've flagged it as News Wanted and invite others in relevant locations to look for more evidence. In particular we should keep an eye on the river as it reaches its expected peak in the next couple of weeks.