Flood Damage in 2011 May Make 2012 Worse Along Mississippi River

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Damage from 2011’s record spring floods could leave many people along the Mississippi River in even more danger this year, the Army Corps of Engineers said.

The Corps said it’s assessing the damage to levees, structures and navigation channels, and will begin notifying affected communities in February.

“We want to identify every place where we have problem areas. Once we have those identified, we get to those as quickly as we can before the next big flood. Hopefully, it doesn’t come this year,” Corps spokesman Bob Anderson said.

Congress gave the Corps $802 million in December to fix levees up and down the river. Identifying the weakest points and letting people know where they are is part of that, said Anderson. Assessments began as soon as the floodwaters went down, he said, and repairs are underway in parts of Missouri and some areas north of Vicksburg, Miss.

The Corps said in December that there was a significant risk of more flooding along the Birds Point Floodway, where it blew three holes in a levee to relieve pressure as floods threatened nearby Cairo, Ill. The floodway levee is designed to be breached in cases of extreme flooding. It has been rebuilt to 55 feet, but still needs to be raised to 62.5 feet.

Most of the damage along the Mississippi River is from St. Louis south, Anderson said. By and large, the levees and other structures did what they were supposed to, he said. “The river was constantly attacking. It pummeled the system itself, but it never did knock it down.”