Disaster at Birds Point

CAPE GIRARDEAU, MO (KRCU) - A short documentary film by the agricultural public relations firm Osborn & Barr looks at the devastation caused by the detonation of the Birds Point-New Madrid.

The film criticizes the Army Corps of Engineers for activating the plan … and for the federal government’s follow-up.

The eleven-minute film “Man Made: Disaster at Birds Point” documents the effects of the flood on floodway farmers and residents of Pinhook.

Neil Caskey worked on the film for Osborn & Barr. He says he was shocked by the federal government’s response following the flood.

"We’re in a situation where our government decided to flood these counties out," Caskey said. "Right now they aren’t doing a whole heck of a lot to make those communities that were affected by their decision whole."

The film was presented in East Prairie last week, but no future screenings are planned in Southeast Missouri. Caskey says he is working to show the film in Washington with Representative Jo Ann Emerson.

The film is online at disaster at birdspoint.com.

Jacob McCleland, KRCU

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Army Corps of Engineers diverts funds for Mississippi River system repairs

Unless more funding comes their way, the Army Corps of Engineers will have to divert resources away from some projects in order to rebuild the Mississippi River flood control system.

The Corps is currently in the process of prioritizing its projects following this year’s devastating floods.

One of the Corps’ priorities is maintaining the river channel at Kentucky Bend … that western-most parcel of Kentucky that is separated from the rest of the state by the Mississippi River.

Corps spokesperson Bob Anderson says that the river tried to change course there by ripping out a large chunk of the river bank that includes concrete revetment.

"If the river were to change course at that location you would have many millions of dollars worth of navigation improvements that would be lost because the river had changed course," Anderson said. "That would be pretty costly to the American taxpayer and the folks who need a reliable navigation channel."

Other high priority projects include the reconstruction of the Birds Point-New Madrid Floodway and multiple repairs at Cairo, Illinois.

The Corps estimates that repairs will cost between one and one-and-half billion dollars.

At this point, 52 million dollars have been transferred from surplus budgets of other projects … but Anderson notes that additional transfers are likely.

Jacob McCleland, KRCU

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ST. LOUIS, MO (ST. LOUIS PUBLIC RADIO) - The Missouri River Working Group is holding its first meeting on Wednesday to come up with a policy on flood control.

Missouri Senators Roy Blunt and Claire McCaskill launched the group with senators from North Dakota to look for ways to improve flood control along the Missouri River.

Senator Blunt says in the past, states in the upper Missouri River basin like North Dakota haven't had much flooding, but after this year, he expects all states along the river to make flood control a top priority.

"I would expect a good attendance from the Senators from Montana right down to Missouri, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Iowa, Nebraska and Kansas, all of whom have been impacted this year by the flooding conditions of the river," Blunt said.

Senators Blunt and McCaskill have also joined Senator John Thune of South Dakota and others to request a hearing on Missouri River flood management with the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee.

Paul Johnston of the Corps' Omaha District says the Corps is open to working with the senators, but that this year's need for flood water storage was unprecedented.

"We got an extraordinary amount of rain in the end of May, followed by the highest runoff in a hundred years, in June," Johnston said. "And that essentially filled the reservoirs and took away our flexibility."

Johnston says to get reservoir levels back down the Corps has had to release record amounts of water down the Missouri River, leading to flooding.

Véronique LaCapra, St. Louis Public Radio

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McCaskill and Blunt on federal debt

Missouri Democratic Senator Claire McCaskill is heralding compromise as the solution to the nation’s debt crises.

Senator McCaskill, feels that too many in Congress are attempting to fix the problem with only one method.

She also says that more politicians need to focus more on their work and less on elections and appeasing the “far ends of the political spectrum.”

“There is a very important goal that we are working towards and it is called compromise. I think that way too many people are focused on elections and not focused on solving the problems,” McCaskill said.

Senator McCaskill also stressed the importance of reducing tax breaks allotted to wealthy companies and individuals as part of the solution for the nation’s financial woes.

On the other side of the aisle, Senator Roy Blunt feels that the focus needs to be less upon cooperation and more upon reducing government expenditure.

He believes that the citizens as a whole are paying as much tax as they are willing to and that it is up to the government to cut spending and meet them halfway.

Senator Blunt also says that he is not only opposed to raising tax rates, but that raising rates would not increase funds for the government.

“And I think that the best way to create revenue is to create more tax payers. We ought to be talking about how we can create more private sector jobs, how we can establish and create an environment. Where private sector job creators want to create more tax payers, that’s how you raise revenue,” Blunt said.

Both senators will be members of a senatorial group meeting later this week that will look into and possibly make changes to the current plan of action for dealing with the waters of the Missouri River.

McCaskill says hopefully the states will be able to agree on a policy that makes flood control the Army Corps of Engineers’ main priority.

“It’s not navigation, it’s not irrigation, it’s not wildlife habitation. It is in fact flood control. And we’ve got to make sure that that becomes crystal clear after the difficulties that everyone has faced this year,” McCaskill said.

Historic rainfall and high levels of snowmelt have forced the Army Corps to release record levels of water down the Missouri River causing heavy flooding.

Hydrologists expect the river to remain at flood stage until at least August.

Tim Filla, KRCU and Julie Bierach, St. Louis Public Radio

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Bones discovered in Birds Point-New Madrid Floodway

CHARLESTON, MO (KRCU) - Water has subsided in the Bird Points Floodway and farmers have returned to their land. But it's not the washed away top soil that has many talking. Instead, it’s the washed up… bones.

The fragments were discovered near the blasted section of the levee, in Mississippi County Missouri.

By time the Mississippi County Coroner, Terry Parker, and his team stopped counting, the bone fragments were spread out over six and a half acres of land.

Parker is unsure exactly how many bodies the found fragments are from, but he is confident that more bone fragments may be found in the area when they go to exhume those they have already discovered.

Parker believes that the bones are likely from the area around or even under the part of the levee that was blasted.

However he is less certain as to whom the bones are from.

"Could possibly be early Native American, it could be early American settlers that were going to the west. It could be people that had resided in the early 1900’s, and that was their homestead, and as common they were buried there on the family home property," Parker said.

The bone fragments as well as the site have been turned over by Parker and the county to the Missouri State Parks and Historic Preservation Team.

The team is now tasked not only with discovering what time period the bones are from, but also what people the bones are from.

"You know if it’s American Indian, you know we have certain policies we have to follow and leave them as undisturbed as possible," Parker said. "So I think that right now they are in process there in the process of investigating, doing forensics to determine the nationality of the remains. And then at that point you know the process of collecting and reentering will happen."

Parker says that the process may take some time due to the degree of decomposition as well as the need for an accurate identification of what people the fragments are from.

Tim Filla, KRCU

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Corps considers an additional floodway

The Army Corps of Engineers is looking at building a new floodway on the Mississippi River.

The Corps utilized three of its four floodways on the Mississippi this spring, including the Birds Point floodway in southeast Missouri.

The Corps designed its original management plan in the 1930s. It includes two floodways in southern Arkansas and northern Louisiana, according to Corps spokesperson Bob Anderson.

“They were both disapproved by the states and the local citizens living in those two areas. It would just be one additional floodway, but we’re not sure exactly where that would be located,” Andersaid.

The Corps is currently building a temporary levee to protect the Birds Point-New Madrid floodway from additional flooding. River levels are expected to increase due to flooding on the Missouri River and a rising Ohio River.

Anderson says that initial estimates to rebuild the system range from 700 million and 1.4 billion dollars. Those estimates could go as high as 2 billion dollars once the remaining floodwaters pass through the system.

Jacob McCleland, KRCU

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McCaskill wants answers from Corps

As volunteers and residents in Holt and Atchison counties in northwest Missouri continue sandbagging to keep the rising Missouri River at bay, Senator Claire McCaskill is looking for answers from the Army Corps of Engineers.

McCaskill says she feels the frustration and anger of residents living in the small communities that have been ordered to evacuate, and wants the Army Corps of Engineers to explain the motivating factor for releasing water from reservoirs upriver when they did.

“I need to understand that clearly. I want to make sure that decisions are not being made to protect recreational use of those reservoirs upriver, without focusing enough on potential consequences like we’re seeing now downriver. Those are the kinds of questions that need to be answered,” McCaskill says.

The Army Corps of Engineers is increasing the amount of water released from Gavins Point Dam in South Dakota this week, so the Missouri River will rise even more in Nebraska, Iowa and Missouri.

Julie Bierach, St. Louis Public Radio

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Missouri Army National Guard, Civil Air Patrol team up for flood fight

ST. JOSEPH, MO (KXCV) - State officials are calling the northwest Missouri response to Missouri river flooding the “flood fight”… and it’s becoming a literal battle.

Officers from the 139th Task Force at Rosecrans Air Base near St. Joseph have moved equipment out and away from the rising threat, and the Missouri Army National Guard is teaming up with the Civil Air Patrol on air reconnaissance missions over the river.

Colonel Greg Mason heads up Task Force 110 that’s in charge of protecting northwest Missouri from the flooding.

He says both planes and helicopters are being used with more on standby.

"Some of the assets that they may bring to bear are the electrical hoist in case there is a need to rescue people from water. The hoist can also lift huge sandbags and place them on the levees at a spot in an emergency if need be," Mason said. "And also smaller helicopters that we can use to fly the route for reconnaissance or aerial observation."

Mason says even civilian help is welcomed…alerting the citizen soldiers of possible levee breaches as soon as they happen.

Kirk Wayman, KXCV

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Birds Point reconstruction underway

The Army Corps of Engineers began repairs to the Birds Point levee on Thursday.

The six-member crew’s first task is to smooth the levee at the crevasses. They will then bring each crevasse to a river level of 51 feet at the Cairo gauge.

Corps spokesperson Jim Pogue says that no time table has been set to restore the levee is its previous condition.

“This is an interim step that at least will restore some level of protection to the area. Then as funding becomes available we’ll be looking at the full reset back to the original condition of the levee,” Pogue said.

Pogue says that the Corps still has some design steps and a environmental clearances that must be completed before the levee is brought back to its original height.

Engineers are also working to remove leftover explosive slurry that is still present at the crevasses.

The current operation is being funded by federal dollars instead of money offered by Missouri Governor Jay Nixon to fund a temporary levee.

Jacob McCleland, KRCU

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No flooding expected in eastern Missouri

How much the Missouri River floods in the eastern part of the state will depend on summer rainfall.

That’s what Colonel Tom O’Hara of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers told reporters at press conference in downtown St. Louis Thursday morning.

The commander of the Corp’s St. Louis District says if we get average rainfall spread throughout the summer, we can expect only minor flooding.

“That could change based on additional rainfall, if we get higher than normal rainfall, or we get concentrated rainfall in various areas,” O'Hara said.

O’Hara says heavy rainfall would cause the Missouri River to overtop most of the agricultural levees between Washington, Missouri and the confluence.

Record high flows at upstream Missouri River dams will keep river levels above flood stage in our area through the end of August.

Véronique LaCapra, St. Louis Public Radio

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Corps to rebuild Birds Point levee

The Army Corps of Engineers is going to rebuild the Birds Point-New Madrid Floodway levee.

In a written statement, Governor Jay Nixon said that he had spoken to Major General Michael Walsh about the decision to rebuild the three breach points in the levee.

The decision allows a certain level of protection for farmers who have already begun to work the fields in the floodway.

And the Corps may have some extra money to work with. Representative Jo Ann Emerson said that one billion dollars in funding has been added to the House Energy and Water Appropriations Act, including nearly 560 million dollars for the lower Mississippi River and tributaries, which includes Birds Point. The bill could be voted on within a month. If passed, the funds would be available on October 1.

Jacob McCleland, KRCU

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Corps: Missouri River flooding won't affect lower Mississippi

The Army Corps of Engineers says that flooding on the Missouri River will not cause additional flooding on the Lower Mississippi River. The Corps also says that Missouri River flooding will not cause more floodwater to enter the Birds Point New Madrid floodway unless a significant amount of rain falls on the region.

In a press release, the Corps states that river levels should continue to fall at Cairo. River levels at Cairo would return to flood stage only with 5 to 7 inches of rain over a widespread area on the lower Missouri, middle Mississippi, or middle or lower Ohio River.

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Nixon: State is prepared for Missouri River flooding

ST. LOUIS, MO (ST. LOUIS PUBLIC RADIO) - Governor Jay Nixon says the state of Missouri is well prepared for a surge of water that's heading down the Missouri River.

The Missouri National Guard is working with local communities on flood preparation.

The floods are driven by record releases from five reservoirs near the Missouri's headwaters.

In the past, Governor Nixon has criticized releases from the dams, especially those that are scheduled every spring to help with the breeding of an endangered fish.

But the water is coming, he said today, and his role as executive in chief is to get ready for it.

"Our focus is on making sure that we are keeping life and property safe, making sure communities are prepared, and being a strong lifeline to help them rebuild afterward," Nixon said.

A Corps spokesman says the agency delayed the release for as long as possible help ease flooding earlier this month along the Mississippi River downstream.

Rachel Lippmann, St. Louis Public Radio

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Corps wants to partner with local, state agencies to rebuild Birds Point

CAPE GIRARDEAU, MO (KRCU) - The Army Corps of Engineers is looking to partner with local and state leadership to repair the Birds Point levee in Mississippi and New Madrid Counties.

Governor Jay Nixon made available 3 million dollars in state funds to build a temporary levee this year. The Corps’ timeline would rebuild the levee by February or March of 2012.

Major General Bo Temple is the Army Corps of Engineer’s acting chief of engineers. He toured the floodway on Thursday with Representative Jo Ann Emerson and Colonel Vernie Reichling of the Corps’ Memphis District.

Major General Temple said he discussed Nixon’s offer with him over lunch.

"As local entities determine how they might be able to contribute to this effort to begin to restore the levees, we will work in partnership with them through what we call our 404 process, which is a local preferred solution to an issue, to work in partnership with the state and local entities to address those," Temple said.

Levee districts are proposing their levee plans to the Memphis District of the Army Corps of Engineers today and Monday, according to Representative Emerson.

Major General Temple did not rule out the possibility of installing a gate at Birds Point in the future. But he said that decision will not be made until initial repairs are made and the system is restored to its designed specifications.

Jacob McCleland, KRCU

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McCaskill says Corps is bogged down by special projects

According to Senator Claire McCaskill, the river systems are not the only things flooded in the nation’s heartland.

She feels that the Army Corp of Engineers is also suffering from serious bloating, but not from water.

Senator McCaskill has come out against Senator Roy Blunt’s assessment that a lack of earmarks is to blame for the poor performance of the Army Corps of Engineers.

In a weekly conference call with Missouri reporters, Senator McCaskill stated that to her the problem is not that the Corps isn’t getting enough money but instead they are getting too much.

"The problem is that the Corp has been handcuffed by special projects that have been dictated by congress and hasn’t been allowed to prioritize the project that they need to prioritize for management of the river systems. The earmarking has gotten in the way," McCaskill said.

Senator McCaskill, did state some level of optimism that with the stoppage of Congressional Earmarks, the Corps may be able to get back to work, on their terms.

Tim Filla, KRCU

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Nixon urges Corps to construct temporary levee

Missouri Governor Jay Nixon urged the Army Corps of Engineers to construct a temporary levee to protect Mississippi County farmers this year.

The Army Corps of Engineers opened the Birds Point levee on May 2 to relieve flooding pressure on other communities upstream. But it flooded 130,000 acres of rural farmland.

Nixon said that a temporary levee would lead to economic recovery because farmers will be able to plant this year.

The governor said that his administration is willing to provide the necessary resources for the temporary levee.

The Army Corps of Engineers has established a timeline for rebuilding the Birds Point levee by March 2012.

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Holt County preparing for flood

HOLT COUNTY, MO (KXCV) - Just as the Army Corps is ready to release water upstream, Missourians living along the Missouri River are already bracing for flooding.

In extreme Northwest Missouri about 40 residents in the Big Lake State Park area have voluntarily evacuated as they anticipating flooding by this weekend.

County clerk Kathy Kunkel serves with the county’s emergency management operations there and says local authorities are getting ready.

"Our emergency management center is open, the dispatch is set up to handle phone calls with a breach- how we’re going to be actionable about that. We’ve sped up our preliminary operations with Red Cross to do temporary sheltering if someone is in need of that," Kunkel said.

Holt County is not issuing mandatory evacuation orders yet but “strongly urging” residents in the Missouri River floodplain to evacuate in the coming days.

Kirk Wayman, KXCV

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Corps to rebuild Birds Point levee

The Army Corps of Engineers says that the Birds Point-New Madrid spillway levee will be restored.

In a letter to Representative Jo Ann Emerson (R-MO), the Assistant Secretary of the Army for Civil Works, Jo-Ellen Darcy, established a timeline for rebuilding the levee system.

In the letter, Darcy said that water should recede within 40 to 60 days without further rainfall. The land will need another 21 to 30 day to dry. After the drying out period, the Corps would make an assessment to determine the extent of restoration.

Representative Emerson called the Birds Point operation, “a deeply painful experience for thousands of people.” She says that the Corps’ commitment to rebuild is the first good news about the levee in a long time.

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Corps to hold informational meetings

Personnel from the Wappapello Lake Project Office will host a series of informational meetings regarding the recovery and reopening of facilities and State Route T that were affected by record reservoir levels.

The first meeting will be on May 24, 2011, from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. with a formal presentation to begin at 1:30 p.m. The second meeting will be on May 24, 2011, from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. with a formal presentation to begin at 6:30 p.m. These meetings will be held at Crabb’s Fisherman’s Net in Wappapello, Missouri.

The third meeting will be held on May 26, 2011, at the Greenville Junior High School multipurpose building in Greenville, Missouri, from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. with a formal presentation to begin at 6:30 p.m.

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Cairo won't crumble from sand boils, geologist says

CARBONDALE, IL (KRCU) - A professor at Southern Illinois University Carbondale says that Cairo, Illinois is not at risk of being overtaken by sand boils.

Dr. Nicholas Pinter is a professor in the Department of Geology at Southern Illinois University Carbondale. He’s an expert on flood hydrology and floodplain management. He says that the land beneath Cairo is not in danger of crumbling apart. The town’s real peril subsided when river levels dropped on the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers.

“They were and should have been worried when the waters were up. This was a major threat to the integrity of those very levees. And it’s a threat that increased as the water levels got higher. Now as the crests have passed, thank goodness here, the immediate threat from those features has subsided,” Pinter said.

Pinter says that the Birds Point floodway had the desired effect of reducing river levels at Cairo and 40 miles upstream. He believes that the Army Corps of Engineers could have opened the floodway earlier, which may have prevented flooding in the southern Illinois community of Olive Branch.

Moving forward, Pinter wants to see less intensive use of the floodway.

“Keep construction, infrastructure, and population out of that floodplain. Agricultural use of that land is absolutely appropriate. And that has been one of the major developments. That land has gone from partially used to very, very intensively used since the designing of the original system,” Pinter said.

Dr. Pinter believes that the levee should be reconstructed. He would like to see more land set aside for floodplains in order to mitigate future flood events.

Jacob McCleland, KRCU

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