Don't Be Distracted : The Real Problem = Historic Mississippi Flood/Intentional Levee Breach

reply to post by Under Water


Dear 'Under Water' -

I can feel your fear and sorrow through the screen.
Life sure can throw us some pretty awful curve balls - but the fact that you have the enterprise and ability to create your own business shows the kind of person you are. That takes A LOT of perseverence, and fortitude and COURAGE which leads me to believe that whether you stay where you are or are forced to re locate, you'll make it and build a new life.
Just keep safe.

Blessings to all affected -
5

Seems the MSM is finally catching on. Woke up this morning and tuned in to find lots of coverage of the flood. They were reporting from just outside Morgan City and showing the levees and interviewing people about what is coming their way. They said will probably open the Morganza on Saturday.

reply to post by EvolEric


www.abovetopsecret.com...

Hello evoleric,
I have been following this thread since it started, kudos for all the great information, and communication. I ran across a book and thought of you. I started a thread about it, unfortunately it died. You may find it interesting, and if anyone can get the word out and help this cause, I believe you and others following this thread can. I truly am not trying to bump this, just wanted you to have this info. Feel free to post any info you find fitting on this thread, and make it your own.

Under Water: I hope everything will be alright for you and the others affected by this disaster. Stay strong, I know it's very, very hard to do... but you must. Leave if it will save your life. My thoughts and prayers are with you.

I know this is a VERY delicate subject, but I have some questions:

I read somewhere (can't remember where) last week that the flooding is only expected to crest around May 21st, does anyone have any further insight on this information?

I really was hoping that the water levels would be going down at this point with all the measures the corp. has taken, has blowing the levees made a difference anywhere?

I also noted that (can't remember source) the waters have chemicals in them, has there been any word about the possible long-term effects to the land?

*****~NOTE: The following may involve sensitive subject matter for some readers, I am trying to help by making people aware, this is why I have been posting odd articles here and there that I think may be of some contribution to the thread over-all. I do not want to hit any nerves, things are bad enough. So if the following offends you, I apologize in advance~*****

I did find a rather interesting article entitled:

IBD Calls Out 'Media Malpractice' in Mississippi Flooding Coverage

dated today

Just barely a year after it derided the establishment media's obsession over oil-affected birds in the Gulf of Mexico while virtually ignoring the loss human life in awful floods in Tennessee (noted at the time at NewsBusters; at BizzyBlog), Investors Business Daily's editorialists are calling out the press for oversaturating us with Obama-OBL victory lap coverage at the expense of informing the nation about the severity of this year's horrible Mississippi River flooding.

They accuse MSM of being more interested in political news and it says that in all fairness, even local news sources haven't been keeping up to speed on the situation. They blame Washington:

The problem lies in Washington. The White House has made no declarations, showed no leadership, and done all it can to keep the issue off the front page.

I personally don't know what sort of backlash these people will get with such claims, but I admire their bravery for speaking out!
They point out that Washington has 'quietly' declared disaster for some areas while bringing attention to the fact that there has been no indication of support for the people affected.

Nor, apparently, did Obama even look out his Air Force One window to see the devastation below as he flew to Texas to raise campaign funds.

They do not site a source for that comment.

Instead, we see the old Washington power game played out between White House operatives and the press: the steady drip, drip, drip of little details about the SEAL raid on Osama bin Laden.

I wonder if this guy is an ATSer?
They believe that by keeping Obama on the front page and the flooding off it, it keeps him in a favourable political light. They say that

.. The flooding provides the White House with no political advantage. If anything, it shows that despite $787 billion in federal stimulus, the U.S. flood control system remains archaic. During Hurricane Katrina, that was a big issue. During this Mississippi crisis, it's not.

The article goes on to say that this occasion demands White House leadership because of it's magnitude.
When will the media notice the Mississippi?

Other portions of the IBD editorial point to potentially serious economic impacts resulting from the floods, including threats to two oil refineries, just in time for summer driving season. That's when the press will take notice of the disaster -- when they're looking for ready-made reasons why the price of gas has reached record levels, and why the economy continues to seriously underperform both current expectations and the Reagan post-recession boom years.

Can you count on your leader to at visit or at least survey the damage?

Yesterday, White House Press Secretary Jay Carney told reporters, when asked if there were "any plans for the President to take a closer look at the impact of the flooding," that he didn't "have any scheduling updates."

My PERSONAL Opinion on the Matter:
I think that someone (a group of someones) should be held accountable for the blatant withholding of information. It is bad enough that this is out of the news, but with the Country's leader turning a blind eye to the situation and the people, it's a insult. This outrage must be addressed, but who do you think will step up to the plate when Obama is too busy playing war-games?

reply to post by Invariance


In Arkansas 9 people have died from the flood, and people lost everything in their homes they could have got out ahead of time if they has known the situation sooner. We could tell when this thread stated how bad things were going to be, and so did the Corps of Egineers.

People depend on the news in times of national disasters to save lives and property. Well they sure failed big time on this. They should be sued. It probably was an ATS member or at least someone that knows about this thread. Because they waited so late to even say anything about it, that caused a lot of pain and suffering. I hope that take it to the Supreme Court.

reply to post by coolottie


I totally agree, this is horrible and inexcusable. The Investors Business Daily's editorial department deserves a in my opinion for speaking out like this. I found the original source article. I can't seem to find out the name of the person who wrote it.

WOW this is a scary update...
Army Corps has put out a second flood inundation map for SE Louisiana. This one is Scenario 2, if the Morganza spillway is not opened.

This one shows major flooding up to 25-30 ft in the High Population areas of both Baton Rouge And New Orleans

OMG. That would be a nightmare. It looks like the smaller communities will get flooded no matter what, so I guess i can see the reason for opening it. Small communities take care of each other better in the face of disaster than large cities do (think katrina), and it will cost the state less money. We all saw what happened during katrina. This would be a repeat, both there and baton rouge. The state can't afford it. It's just sad that this has to happen to anyone.

it's hard to differentiate between my feelings caused by this and my feelings caused by katrina. i feel like we're going to flood no matter what they do because our levees are less than ideal, but i can't tell if that's overkill or panic caused by my experience with katrina. and then the lack of clear info/media coverage, it makes it worse. and even if they did cover this properly, i don't know if i'd believe it or trust them, because of katrina and the media's tendency to LIE. LOL.

i will of course leave if i feel it's called for. i am just waiting for the signal.

this is horrible and i just want to say to everyone else in SE louisiana reading this: who dat? we'll get through it.

i also want to add a big thank you, and big hugs, to everyone who is not in the affected areas who are staying on top of this regardless. this thread is literally a potential life saver. thank you.

Today, there were soldiers on my street. They opened the drains on the street, (there were two) and dropped some type of pellet/ball into the drainage system. I don't know what that's about.

I just wanted to thank everyone for their sound advice! We will be leaving tonight. The mayor has issued a mandatory town meeting for us, but I think I'm going to head out before the crowd. Thanks again everyone. Keep us in your prayers.

Even the animals are getting their share of the grief

"When that water gets into a neighborhood, snakes are going to be searching for shelter and food in homes or sheds or wherever they can slither into."

"One of our wildlife managers even spotted deer and coyotes"—natural enemies—"standing on the same levee together," he said.

With thousands of acres of farms and wooded bottomlands flooded, countless rabbits, turkeys, deer, and other animals have been forced to flee—or perish. "We've seen photos of herds of deer on levees trying to get away from the waters and heard from the Army Corps of Engineers that they've seen deer drowned during the flood," Odom said.

The floods come at a particularly poor time for wild turkeys, Odom added, because most of the birds are nesting at this time of year. Many of those nests have been lost to or displaced by floods, and countless new birds might not survive—especially if the animals float to areas with egg-eating opossums or raccoons. "In the flooded areas, we're going to see a significant reduction in turkeys," Odom said.

reply to post by Privy_Princess


I hope you found a safe place go. Are you leaving for good? I can only imagine what you must be going thru, what that feels like.


I'm curious what the pellets were that they dropped into the drain... I think theres too much water for them to even attempt to treat for bacteria etc. but I could be wrong.

reply to post by Privy_Princess




First off awesome finds there!
Invariance and Stormgodess and tinker9917

(Everyone else too!!! )



Be safe Privy_Princess!! I wish you all the luck and I am sending Prayers and Positive Vibes!!!
Its smart to leave before there is a rush!

Also the pellets... Could be some sort of anti-bacteria agent.... sounds reasonable enough...

I'm going to go out on a limb... I don't really have a clue to what I am talking about, lol
But could it be Dye? to mark the water... to see where it goes... to know what water is sewage and what is flood?

Possibly more logically it is something to kill bacteria in the sewage to make it safer to wade into the water...

... LAKE PONTCHARTRAIN WATER LEVELS EXPECTED TO RISE DUE TO BONNET CARRE SPILLWAY OPENING... LAKE PONTCHARTRAIN WATER LEVELS ARE EXPECTED TO BECOME ELEVATED APPROXIMATELY 1 TO 2.5 FEET ABOVE NORMAL DURING THE NEXT WEEK DUE TO THE OPENING OF THE BONNET CARRE SPILLWAY... WHICH DIVERTS WATER FROM THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER INTO THE LAKE. THE FORECAST OF ELEVATED WATER LEVELS IS BASED ON ANALYSIS OF TIDE GAGES AROUND LAKE PONTCHARTRAIN DURING SEVERAL PREVIOUS OPENINGS OF THE SPILLWAY SINCE THE 1970S. CURRENT TIDE LEVELS ARE NEAR NORMAL ACROSS MOST OF THE LAKE... BUT SLIGHT INCREASES HAVE ALREADY BEEN NOTED AT SOME OF THE GAGES. CURRENT REPRESENTATIVE READINGS INCLUDE: COE MANDEVILLE TIDE GAGE 1.00 FT NAVD88 COE WEST END - NEW ORLEANS GAGE 0.50 FT NAVD88 IMPACTS SHOULD BE MINIMAL WITH ONLY MINOR FLOODING OF MARSHLAND AND POSSIBLY SOME LOW LYING SECONDARY ROADWAYS... PRIMARILY ON THE NORTH SHORE. HOWEVER... LAKE PONTCHARTRAIN WATER LEVELS ARE SENSITIVE TO PROLONGED PERIODS OF SOUTH OR SOUTHEAST WINDS. IF A PROLONGED PERIOD OF STRONG SOUTHEAST OR SOUTH WINDS DEVELOP... WATER LEVELS MAY BECOME MORE ELEVATED THAN CURRENTLY FORECAST... REACHING 2 TO 3 FEET ABOVE NORMAL. RESIDENTS IN LOW LYING AREAS AROUND LAKE PONTCHARTRAIN SHOULD CONTINUE TO MONITOR WATER LEVELS AND LISTEN FOR ANY COASTAL FLOOD STATEMENTS OR WARNINGS THAT MAY BE ISSUED AT A LATER DATE.

New alert for Upper Jefferson Parish.

reply to post by coolottie


9 people....

Sucks... To me the loss of ONE person is a tragedy...

MSM and FEMA, and the GOV and anyone else who is in charge of informing people...
who is in the position to provide critical information to the local residents...

If they fail to warn them... when they know days... weeks in advance... then I think its criminal

Ok I know this is unrelated to the flood...

I am not trying to derail my own thread...
lol
that would be stupid of me...

But I know Under Water and a few others have mentioned being through Hurricane's in the past...
care to stop by my thread and check it out... share your story there?

What to do during a Hurricane?

Appears as though a power struggle is developing between Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal and the Army Corps of Engineers, over the timing of the Morganza spillway opening. As the Mississippi River continues to rise and threaten the high population areas of Baton Rouge and New Orleans, Jindal continues to push the Corps for permission to open the spillway, and the Corps continues to stall

www.nola.com...

“We’re not waiting for the corps,” Gov Bobby Jindal told reporters in Baton Rouge Thursday afternoon while outlining the state’s flood-fighting strategy. “We’ve been taking aggressive steps to help our people protect their families, property and livelihoods from the rising river,” he said. “We don’t have the time to wait for official notice. It’s critical that Louisianians get prepared now to protect their families and homes.”

reply to post by EvolEric
The thing about hurricanes you know they are coming in and can board up windows, get all of your valueables out, and leave.

This thing with this Flood, no one even new what was coming but the people that have read this thread. I went to the Beauty shop in Pine Bluff today, and asked 3 people if they had heard about the flood, Not one of them even knew it was happening. We have had 17 people as of today die from the flood.

People did not get warning, when they could have known days ahead what to expect. This is Obama's Katrina, and a great failure on the part of our government and Media.

Fifteen feet of water anticipated in Butte Larose, LA.

www2.tbo.com...

This has haunted me all day....

"One of our wildlife managers even spotted deer and coyotes"—natural enemies—"standing on the same levee together," he said.

Will we, as humans, be able to stand with our enemies to survive, when the "unthinkable" happens?

Sorry if off topic.