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.
What Matters
Some of the stories of the great Mississippi River Flood of 2011 being presented to me are complex and multi-layered and involve sorting through decisions which were made that benefited some and seriously hurt others. Such a story will be coming soon when I share the plight of the farmers of Mississippi County, Missouri.
Other stories are simple and luminous – they just shine up out of the mud and mess and can be shared with you just as they appeared to me. Such is the story of Etta and Joe Hughes of Morehouse, Missouri.
Carolyn – Faces of the 2011 Flood
I met Carolyn in a shelter for flood victims at the First Baptist Church in Morehouse, Missouri. Although Morehouse isn’t directly on the Mississippi River, flood waters quickly rose when systems that normally drain into the Mississippi backed up. The situation was further complicated when a dyke created to keep nearby Highway 60 open for traffic diverted even more water into town. No one had much warning and most of the small town’s homes sustained water damage. I plan to tell you more about Morehouse in an upcoming post, but since I won’t be available to post again for several days, I want to introduce you to Carolyn.
Images From the 2011 Mississippi River Flood
Just a few hours ago, I returned from visiting the flooded area of southeast Missouri where the Bird’s Point Levee was breached on May 3rd. Even after touring the area by plane for an entire morning and by boat for an entire afternoon, it is still difficult to comprehend the magnitude of the event that continues to unfold as I write this.
I have many photos of the nearly unrecognizable Mississippi River at the confluence with the equally distorted Ohio River, and the vast expanses of submerged land that, until a few weeks ago, held homes, crops and livelihoods. Even after seeing all this with my own eyes, it isn’t until you look into the eyes of the people and listen to their stories that the true magnitude of it all begins to register.