Fight Continues Over Use of New Madrid Floodway

The fight is now in the federal courts over whether to blow the levee below Cairo in order to save the city. The area in question is the New Madrid Floodway and was designed to be flooded in emergencies.

Since the 1927 Mississippi River Flood that has only happened once, in 1937. The Corps of Engineers wants to open a gap while Missouri is fighting to block the flooding.

Here's the area in question that would be flooded. Basically, there is a levee along the Mississippi on the right side of the area and another levee protecting a larger section of communities on the left side of the designated area.

The map is my best estimate based on the existing levee roads. The area stretches from Bird's Point, Mo., opposite Cairo, to New Madrid.


View New Madrid Floodway in a larger map

Crest Prediction Lowered a Bit

The National Weather Service is lowering its predicted crest of the Ohio River to 60.5 feet on Monday due to plans to release less water from Kentucky Lake and Lake Barkley.

Still unknown is whether the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers will blow a hole in the levee just below Cairo and flood 130,000 acres of Missouri farmland. The Missouri Attorney General sued in federal court today to stop the plans, which have been standard operating procedure for decades since the feds purchased flowage rights to the land following the levee building after the 1927 Mississippi River flood.

In 1937, they blew the levee when the water reached a little above 58 feet at Cairo, which it will be sometime before morning as it was 57.11 feet at 6 p.m. Back then, it lowered the water nine inches at Cairo before the river started rising again.

Dynamite Agains Becomes An Option

In a repeat of what happened in 1937, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is considering the dynamite option, Fox News reports.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers was considering the extraordinary step of intentionally breaching the Birds Point levee in southeast Missouri, just downriver of the confluence, in a bid to reduce the amount of water moving down the Mississippi. The move would soak 130,000 acres of farmland, and Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon objected to the idea. A decision was expected Tuesday.

This is part of a plan put in place after the levees were built following the disastrous 1927 Mississippi River Flood. They did it in '37 to help save Cairo and it worked.

[For the history go here at IllinoisHistory.com]

Then Cairo was a city of 14,000, now it's down to 2,800. In 1937, the river was getting close to overtopping the levee in Cairo. So far that's not the case — yet. The latest prediction is a crest next Tuesday at 61 feet, three feet below the top of the levee, and 18 inches above the '37 record.

Right now the biggest levee worry is along the Black River at Poplar Bluff, Missouri, where more than 10 inches of rain has fallen over a wide area since Friday night, according to the radar estimates.

At Cairo, the city council met last night to discuss evacuations. So far, eight families have notified police they are leaving. River levels were 56.6 feet last hour at 10 a.m., more than seven feet below the levee top. In 1937, the evacuations of women and children began on Jan. 25, a week before the Feb. 3rd crest when waters reached 58 feet, just two feet shy of the then 60-foot levees.

The biggest problem if the water doesn't overflow the levee itself like it is at Poplar Bluff, becomes sand boils.

The major problem by Feb. 2, 1937, became the dreaded "'sand boils' bursting up in the heart of Cairo Tuesday forenoon, gave warning of deeply undermined flood barriers. Emergency squads rushed to the danger spots, dumping hundreds of sandbags on the miniature "geysers" boiling through the then strata of protective surface over the city's foundation of sand."

Back then, a crew of 4,500 men manned the levees, adding sandbags, quickly adjusting to whatever was the latest danger. Approximately 1,500 were townsmen, 500 WPA workers, some CCC enrollees and the by one account (I know the math doesn't add up), 4,000 federal and state troops.

New Forecast Pushes Cairo River Stage to Record 61 Feet

The latest forecast from the National Weather Service ups its crest prediction for Cairo from 60 to 61 feet as of next Tuesday. That compares with the record set in 1937 at 59.5.

The river should rise past the 1937 record by 7 a.m. Thursday and reach 60 feet by 7 p.m. that day. Back in '37, 60 feet was the height of levee. Thankfully the Corps of Engineers raised the levees another four feet since then.

River Levels to Bust Cairo's 1937 Record Next Week

It's official, the river forecast for Cairo will surpass the record 1937 flood level.

I've been wondering if the AP had the wrong information and now it seems to be confirmed. There have been a number of reports that the river would "crest" Friday a foot below record stage at Cairo. The charts I was looking at from the NWS didn't show a crest, just the last point in the forecast Friday.

According to the Ohio and Lower Mississippi River Forecast on another page from last night at 7:40 p.m., the Ohio River expected to crest (meaning its highest point) will be on May 3, a week from Tuesday, at 60 feet which is a half a foot below the all-time record of 59.5 feet set on Feb. 3, 1937.

One of the important things to notice about the first chart is the difference between what was actually measured this afternoon and what was forecasted. The actual measurement was higher than the forecast. That's not good.

Unlike the 1937 flood which started upstream on the Ohio and came down to an only moderately flooded Mississippi, this one is appears to be due to heavy rains here in the Midwest with both major rivers in flood stage. Upriver on the Ohio is not so bad.

Paducah is expected to see a crest of 55 feet on the 3rd as well which will surpass all records except the big one of '37. That year it was 60.6 feet. While that's still major flooding for lands outside the levees, it's not at the point that would normally impact the heavy industries upstream at Calvert City, Ky. It's also well below the levee height of 64 feet.

A key note to last night's flood forecast by the NWS. They based it on 48 hours of future rainfall rather than the normal 24 hours. "River sages may potentially be 1-3 ft higher in some areas with 5 days of future rainfall."

That doesn't give a whole lot of wiggle room for Cairo. The expected 60 foot crest is just four feet below the top of the levees protecting Cairo.

Upriver Mounds and Mound City have another foot of protection. Their levees don't get topped until the river at Cairo is 65 feet.

Rains Raise River Projections, Cairo Could Top Record

With this weekend's storms already dumping 4 to 6 inches of rain throughout Southern Illinois and more on the way, the Ohio River at Cairo could reach record levels later this week if the projected trend of river levels continues.

The river was at 52.76 feet a few minutes ago at 1 p.m. Major flood stage at 53 feet will be reached within a few hours.

The National Weather Forecast only goes out to Friday morning when they project 58.5 feet, just one foot before the record of 59.5 set back in the 1937 record flood.

At around 1 a.m. Wednesday the river is expected to reach 56 feet. At that point U.S. Rt. 51 near Wickliffe, Ky., floods. Later that day the river will surpass the 1997, 1927 and 1975 floods at 56.2, 56.4 and 56.5 feet.

Even if the water hits the 1937 flood levels at Cairo, the city still has another 4.5 feet of levee height to protect it.

I'll have to pull out some history, but if I recall correctly, the mayor of Cairo ordered the city evacuated except for all albe-bodied male citizens who were required to stay and assist with sandbagging and other emergency efforts.

The situation is quite as bad at Paducah where the river was 46.36 feet at 1 p.m. and is projected to reach 53 feet on Friday, which means it will likely surpass the fourth worst crest of 53.2 feet from the 1950 flood.

If the tornado and storms of yesterday didn't cause damaged already, property damage from flooding will begin at 47 feet. At 49.5 feet, the first flood gate will be closed at Paducah. If it hasn't been done already, it will be likely be closed tomorrow as that level will be reached within the next 24 to 30 hours. Major flooding will begin to occur on both sides of the river when the waters reach 52 feet which is currently predicted for around 1 p.m. Thursday.

If waters continue to rise the next major impact occurs at 56 feet (which would be the second worst flood after the '37 one). At that point many of the industrial plants upstream at Calvert City, Ky., become impacted.

Tornado Targets Another Airport — This Time at Cairo

You'd think airports were turning into trailer parks with the damaged they've taken in the last 24 hours.

A tornado hit St. Louis International Airport last night blowing off parts of the roof and windows throughout the terminals. The airport reopened today and expects to be up to 70 percent capacity by Sunday.

This afternoon less than four hours ago another tornado hit the Cairo Regional Airport at Klondike in Alexander County, causing extensive damage at the airport as well as the hanger damaged as well.

Federal Funding Announced for Scenic Byways

Southern Illinois will receive a good chunk of $2 million in federal funds announced yesterday for scenic byways in the state. U.S. Senator Dick Durbin's office released the details Thursday.

According to Durbin's office the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) has awarded the following National Scenic Byways Discretionary Grants to the Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT) for the Ohio River Scenic Byway.

• Pulaski County — $262,561 in funding for the design and construction of an overlook of the Ohio River including parking, a walkway, an overlook platform, landscaping, interpretive signs and directional signs.
  
  
• Cairo — $275,000 in funding for the re-creation and re-construction of Fort Defiance as it existed during the Civil War. Fort Defiance was used by General Grant to lead the great Western Campaign of the Civil War. This funding will be used as part of a $2.6 million park improvement program by the City of Cairo.
  
  
• Southeastern Illinois — $25,000 in funding for the implementation of the Corridor Management Plan which will enable the byway coordinator to coordinate and manage initiatives and projects while developing a marketing plan to promote the byway.

In addition to these projects funds were awarded to the Historic National Road byway which runs through Vandalia and three projects for the Meeting of the Great Rivers Byway in the St. Louis MetroEast area.

Improvements Set for Cairo

Monday's Southeast Missourian had a good story about some of the improvements taking place in Cairo.

CAIRO, Ill. -- This community once envisioned to become a great Midwestern metropolis has suffered from an economic depression for at least half a century. But flickers of life have appeared recently. Biodiesel and coal gasification are two of the industries considering locating in Cairo. There's talk of relocating the airport to make room for other industries.

Another sign of life can be found in attempts to preserve Cairo's history. In a few weeks, construction is scheduled to begin on a design that will rehabilitate and expand the vacant tollhouse next to the Ohio River bridge into a museum that will reflect Cairo's Civil War and transportation history. The $1 million project is being funded through a variety of sources but primarily the Illinois Department of Transportation.

Cairo's history offers tremendous potential for tourism development. It's good to see a new administration in the city working toward that goal.