Originally posted by celestialpink
reply to post by EvolEric

---

Do you have any photos or links to the KY sand boils? I'm in KY as well. If not - no problem. I'm just curious as to where they are/were.

Federal officials stressed that changing conditions could avert the destruction of the Birds Point levee and 130,000 acres of farmland. Crews began loading the explosives at 3:30 p.m., and the process will take about 20 hours - or until about 11:30 a.m. today.

Hundreds of experts were working around the clock monitoring the system and "all resources" are being used to battle the flooding, the corps' Maj. Gen. Michael Walsh said in a news release.

But record-high levels were testing the levee system like never before, creating a scenario the floodway was planned for, Walsh stated. "The Project Flood is upon us. This is the flood engineers envisioned following the 1927 flood."

Cairo sits along the Ohio River before it converges with the Mississippi. The residents were ordered to evacuate by Sunday morning as the river topped a 1937 record of 59.5 feet. The level is rising and is expected to crest at 60.5 feet by Tuesday.

The flood wall protects Cairo up to 64 feet, but the crest is not expected to drop until at least Thursday afternoon, and the corps fears the pressure could compromise the levees. Sand boils near the levy in Cairo are already dangerously large. Sand boils occur when water pushes under levees and bubbles up in the soil behind them.

Cairo Mayor Judson Childs said about 40 percent of the city residents decided to stay in their homes. Buses took evacuees to a shelter at Shawnee Community College in Ullin, Ill., the mayor said, and the local law enforcement and Illinois National Guard were protecting the property of those who left. Emergency sirens will warn those who remain of any immediate threat.

Cairo Mayor Judson Childs said about 40 percent of the city residents decided to stay in their homes. Buses took evacuees to a shelter at Shawnee Community College in Ullin, Ill., the mayor said, and the local law enforcement and Illinois National Guard were protecting the property of those who left. Emergency sirens will warn those who remain of any immediate threat.

Koster's failed plea to the Supreme Court came a day after a federal appeals court in St. Louis denied Koster's effort to block the corps from breaking the levee.

"I want to make sure we exhaust all potential legal remedies and ask every possible court to review the plan proposed by the Army Corps of Engineers," Koster said in a news release. "In light of the devastation faced by the citizens of Mississippi County - devastation that will persist in the area for years to come - it is the responsibility of this office to pursue every possible avenue of legal review."

Koster argues that flooding would leave a layer of silt on the farmland that could take as much as a generation to clear. The floodway - the third largest in the world - is 35 miles long and varies from 4 to 12 miles in width.

About 230 residents have been evacuated from the floodway in Mississippi and New Madrid counties, and as many as 800 have been asked to leave surrounding communities as a precaution.

Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon sent 730 members of the Missouri National Guard to the area. The citizen-soldiers set up command posts and checkpoints to help maintain safety.