Mississippi River Flooding Causing Problems with Exports as Waters Continue to Rise
While the cresting of the Mississippi River on Saturday is expected to be six inches lower the originally anticipated, it will still be nearly 5 feet higher than the previous record level of the flood in 1937. This record setting high water mark is causing problems in moving grains from the farmlands of the Midwest to the Gulf of Mexico for exporting to other countries.
The Natchez port has been closed by the Coast Guard in light of such heavy flooding to keep the barges from placing too much pressure on the levees keeping the water from laying waste to the surrounding areas. There has been no date set as to how long the port will be closed, causing a great deal of speculation on the costs of grains and export demand on the global market.
Roughly seventy miles north of Natchez, near Vicksburg the worst of the flooding has prompted forced evacuations of more than 4,000 people in the area. To keep this type of situation from spreading all along the banks of the Mississippi River, a plethora deputies, inmates, and engineers are monitoring the levees and flood walls around the clock to allow for early warning on impending breakdowns. A small leak could turn disastrous, and constant vigilance will help prevent a small leak from becoming a levee buster along the Mighty Mississippi.
Some areas along the swollen river are too dangerous to ask people to patrol during nighttime hours. The danger presented by snakes and alligators only exacerbates the problem of monitoring potential danger points that could cause the levees to burst. Already, certain portions of the levees are experiencing what is known as “sand boils”. This is where the water has found a way through the levee and then bubbles up on the dry side. While these sand boils are not a great threat, they are dealt with by placing a ring of sandbags around them to keep the situation from compounding.
