Nearly three months ago I shared with you the devastating effects of the great flood of 2011 on the people of Mississippi County, Missouri. I invited you to contact the U. S. Army Corps of Engineers and implore them to “do the right thing” and help these folks put their lives back together. Many of you did; many sent me copies of your emails and of responses from the Corps. Again, my heartfelt thanks for that! We were joined by voices of elected officials and empathetic people from all over the country and things looked hopeful. Unfortunately, it hasn’t turned out as hoped and the people of Mississippi County are struggling. Here is the situation –
Thank You!
In the first 24 hours after I put up the post “Tell the Corps: Do The Right Thing!” 265 people read the blog post. Many have emailed me, saying they were planning to or already had written Mr. Pogue at the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to encourage quick action on rebuilding the levee at Birds Point in Mississippi County, Missouri. People have posted links on their facebook and other social networking pages to encourage their friends and some have said “I will send this on to everyone I know.”
Tell the Corps: Do The Right Thing!
This post will be longer than usual. I hope you will bear with me – there are some good people who could use your help. But first, some background.
Mississippi County, Missouri, is a place where many people’s roots go very deep. Unlike some agricultural communities where family farms have succumbed to wealthy corporations, many of the farmers here are working land that has been in their family for three or four generations. My friends Sam and Silvey Barker grew up in this county on land that was first cleared by their respective grandparents, long before the current system of levees and spillways existed.
Stories of the Mississippi River Flood of 2011
After my recent trip to the flooded area of southeast Missouri known as the bootheel, I came home to meet a previous commitment for the days since then. I am just now resurfacing to catch up with the news and see the effects of flooding on the lower Mississippi. Another trip is in the planning stage – but, for now, I want to share some of the stories of the people of the flooded land of the Missouri bootheel.
Dust, Southern Charm and Something Ancient
I’ve visited this area of southeast Missouri known as “The Bootheel” before and made some friends I was happy to see again. Claudia and Randy Arington invited me to stay with them in the country outside of Charleston, MO. When they told me the hill south of Cape Girardeau was the last hill on this side of the river, they weren’t kidding. The land now is flat and low as far as the eye can see.
Before the Little River Drainage Project began in 1907, this was a vast swampland, thickly forested with Tupelo and Cypress trees (like these I shot across the river at Horseshoe Lake) and populated mostly by snakes, frogs, ducks, herons, egrets and a rich assortment of other wildlife. By 1927, the forests were cleared and the swamps almost completely gone, drained by nearly 1,000 miles of ditches and over 300 miles of levees. What remains is some of the richest farmland in the country. Mile after mile of cultivated and irrigated land now produces soybeans, wheat and corn.