2011 Mississippi River floods

The Mississippi flood of 2011 was a flood on the Mississippi, in which the highest water levels have been achieved since 1927 in many places and from an area affected was larger than Italy. Mid-April 2011 attracted two strong storms and thunderstorms across over the catchment area of ​​the stream and unloaded heavy rainfall. Along with the annual snow melt in early May the stream reached record water levels. Among the areas with extensive flooding included Illinois, Missouri, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Mississippi and Louisiana. President Barack Obama declared the counties in western Kentucky and Mississippi federal disaster areas. In the state of Arkansas until May 10, at least 14 people were killed by the impact of the flood. For thousands of homes evacuations were ordered by the authorities. The authorities estimate that 13 % of refinery production was disrupted by the impact of floods. The flood peaks exceeded the historic record levels in several places.

The peak of the flood wave was achieved in Memphis, Tennessee on May 10; the south of Louisiana reached the flood to the May 23 The United States Army Corps of Engineers was known in advance that the area between Simmesport, Louisiana and Baton Rouge, Louisiana going 6-9 meters high flooded, even if the spillway channels would be opened.

Background

Between 14 and 16 April produced the storm and thunderstorm system, on whose account one of the largest tornado outbreaks in the United States goes, large amounts of precipitation in the South and the Midwest. Two weeks later, from April 25 to 28, a second storm front moved through the valley of the Mississippi and brought more heavy rainfall with it, which led to flash floods. For these storms than 250 tornadoes were born, making 354 residents of affected states died. A total of 397 people came through the two storm systems to death and caused damage to property was estimated at about 5 billion U.S. dollars. The exceptional rainfall by the two storm fronts created together with the simultaneous melting of snow in the upper Midwest, the starting point for an unusual, even for this time of year rise in the water level of the Mississippi and its tributaries.

Missouri and Illinois

On May 3, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers blew a 3.5 km section of the dikes along the New Madrid Floodway, which 530 km ² of arable land were set in Mississippi County, Missouri, under water. This action was carried out in order to spare the city of Cairo, Illinois, a record-breaking floods. More than 200 residents of New Madrid and Mississippi County were forced to leave their homes after April 30, a federal court had approved the proposed measure.

The bridge, run to Missouri on the U.S. Highways 60 and 62 of Cairo, had to be locked.

Tennessee

In Dyersburg, a city on the Forked Deer River in northwestern Tennessee, more than 600 homes and businesses were flooded when pouring the water of the Mississippi tributary in the southern areas of the city. In Memphis, Tennessee, the 5200 residents of the upscale residential area of ​​Harbor Town were evacuated. Harbor Town is located on the Mud Iceland in the center of Memphis. On May 5, the river reached with a water level of 13.5 m, the highest level in Memphis since 1937, when the river reached a level of 14.8 m. The tidal wave reached its peak in Memphis on May 10 at a water level of 14.6 m. Numerous local watercourses are also burst their banks, including Big Creek, Loosahatchie River and Wolf River with Nonconnah Creek, which led to flooding in Millington and suburban areas in Frayser, Bartlett and East Memphis.

Arkansas

In addition to numerous local roads and Interstate 40, the Memphis, Tennessee and Little Rock, Arkansas was connecting, west of Memphis flooded between Hazen and Brinkley, so that both carriageways had to be locked in a section at White River. Be blocked also had the U.S. Highway 67 at Pocahontas and U.S. Highway 63 between Portia and Hoxie.

Mississippi

In Tunica County nine casinos were closed on moored vessels; belonging to the casinos hotel building on the banks were flooded by the rising waters. On May 5, the ground floor of the Harrah 's Casino Tunica belonging hotels stood about two feet under water. In Vicksburg on May 5, Highway 465 was blocked in Warren County and Issaquena County due to flooding.

On May 5, was the governor of the state, Haley Barbour, announced that eleven counties were declared along the Mississippi River to federal disaster areas by the federal government of the United States and he had asked the federal government to declare this status for more counties. On May 7, thirteen counties in Mississippi were declared a disaster area: Adams, Bolivar, Claiborne, Coahoma, DeSoto, Issaquena, Jefferson, Sharkey, Tunica, Warren, Washington, Wilkinson and Yazoo County.

The predicted peak heights of the floods Vicksburg and Natchez were higher than the record levels of the flood of 1927.

Louisiana

The rising water levels threatened the Old River Control Structure in northern Louisiana. This structure serves to limit the amount of water that can flow from the Mississippi River into the Atchafalaya. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers opened on May 14, the first parts of the Morganza Spillway, a flood relief channel in order to reduce the water level and river discharge at the Old River Control Structure and downstream. Other goals of the system, which consists of 125 individually -to-use weirs were opened in the following days. The operators expected on May 16 that they need to open 31 weirs at constant estimates of runoff in order to achieve the necessary relief of the Old River Control Structure and the dams to Baton Rouge and New Orleans. The failure of either of these structures could lead to the Mississippi 's main arm moved to the bed of the Atchafalaya or in the Atchafalaya Basin and would thus form a new river delta south of Morgan City in southern Louisiana, while the discharge flow of current main arm by Baton Rouge and New Orleans to the current river delta in the south-eastern part of the state drastically went back. Jeff Masters of Weather Underground warned that a failure of the Old River Control Structure " a serious blow to the U.S. economy would be and that the great Mississippi flood will undergo of 2011 [ this hydraulic structure ] his greatest challenge yet ." The Army Corps of Engineers ( USACE ) opened the Bonnet Carre Spillway, a discharge channel of the Mississippi River to Lake Pontchartrain west of New Orleans. For New Orleans, the National Weather Service said an apex height of the flood of 19.5 m ahead. By dikes, the city is protected up to a flood height of 20 m.

The peak height of the flood did not reach the feared scale, which means that only a maximum of 17 gates were opened at the Morganza Spillway and the blocking structure 7 July 2011 could be completely closed. The Bonnet Carre Spillway was closed already on June 20.