Happy Birthday America

[metaldad]

Here's hoping everyone had a great, safe, EXPLOSIVE (HEAVY emphasis on the safe part) and all around enjoyable July 4th.

[Roc Stone]

My thoughts go out to those along the Mississippi, sufferers and victims of the deluge.

My heart goes out to loss of the animals and live stock. I was really taken when I saw footage of pigs trapped on a corrogated iron roof surrounded by water and tree tops.

[Speedbag]

My thoughts go out to those along the Mississippi, sufferers and victims of the deluge.

My heart goes out to loss of the animals and live stock. I was really taken when I saw footage of pigs trapped on a corrogated iron roof surrounded by water and tree tops.

Yes, the heartland of America around the Mississippi River has been in jeopardy for a long time, and the levee system has been underfunded for a long time. It's a HUGE system that has to be maintained.

The upper Mississippi is the portion of the Mississippi River upstream of Cairo, Illinois, United States. From the headwaters at Lake Itasca, Minnesota, the river flows approximately 2000 kilometers (1250 mi) to Cairo, where it is joined by the Ohio River to form the Lower Mississippi River.

The Lower Mississippi River is the portion of the Mississippi River downstream of Cairo, Illinois. From the confluence of the Ohio River and Upper Mississippi River at Cairo, the Lower flows just under 1600 kilometers (1000 mi) to the Gulf of Mexico. It is the most heavily travelled component of the Mississippi River System.

If you're counting thats 2,250 miles, just on the Mississippi River side, not counting the Ohio River, plus it's tributaries.

I am very familiar with the parts of the river system, for I have family that have worked in parts of it all their life. My step brother recently retired after several years as Master Pilot and chief engineer for the US Corp of Engineers (he wrote the book review on that link), which maintains the levees, as well as maintains the channels of the mississippi system. I spent the summer of 1969 working as a deckhand on a towboat called the Lady Kimberly. We ran up the Ohio River and down the Lower Mississippi. You live on the boat, and it rarely stops except to make up a tow of bargers. My most notable memory of that was being tied off in Vicksburg Mississippi when Hurricane Camille blew in.

My step dads farm, and many of my relatives live in the area of Birds Point, Mo. A lot of our land is inside that "red zone" on this map. IF the Ohio River were to rise to the point of flooding Cairo, Illinois they will blow the levee on the missouri side and flood that red zone to about 20 feet deep. It was blown in the 1930's. I have two step brothers who have farm land so close to the river that you can see the search lights on top of the pilot house as towboats go by the Cairo Harbor. The news or River Flooding is taken pretty seriously in my family. This country had better get serious about our River System infrastructure, or thousands of houses, main roads and bridges for hundreds of miles around these rivers are going to be washed downstream in the coming years - and the democrats and republicans can all blame each other about it.

On the other hand, they also live within the New Madrid Fault, so perhaps a big shaker will reek havoc on the levees and river. The last big quake there created ReelFoot lake in 1812, so we're due for another one.

[metaldad]

My thoughts go out to those along the Mississippi, sufferers and victims of the deluge.

My heart goes out to loss of the animals and live stock. I was really taken when I saw footage of pigs trapped on a corrogated iron roof surrounded by water and tree tops.

You know it really is hard to get caught up in revelry when so many lost so much

[sidecarr]

just added a signature want to see if it worked