1/ Our latest episode with @ProPublica explains how seemingly mundane things like flood planning can serve as vessels for prejudice.
Let’s break down how it works. revealnews.org/episodes/flood…
Let’s break down how it works. revealnews.org/episodes/flood…
2/ Our first example is Pinhook, Missouri. In 2011, the U.S. government flooded the town, destroying it.
The idea was to protect a city and valuable farmland nearby.
The idea was to protect a city and valuable farmland nearby.
3/ Pinhook was built in a floodway – land the government is legally allowed to flood in emergencies.
But for black sharecroppers who arrived in the 1940s, it was the *only* land white owners would sell.
But for black sharecroppers who arrived in the 1940s, it was the *only* land white owners would sell.
4/ The town survived for 68 years as an independent farming community with homes, a church and store. That all changed when the Mississippi River flooded seven years ago.
5/ The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers consulted with other people who farmed in the floodway, but Pinhook residents say they weren’t invited.
The town’s mayor, Debra Robinson Tarver, said no one even told her about an evacuation.
The town’s mayor, Debra Robinson Tarver, said no one even told her about an evacuation.
6/ Residents had just enough time to get a few belongings and get out.
7/ Our second example is Cairo, a predominantly black city in Illinois.
When floodwaters rose in 2011, the Army Corps of Engineers already had a plan to save it. It was written into law.
Yet the agency stalled. revealnews.org/article/there-…
When floodwaters rose in 2011, the Army Corps of Engineers already had a plan to save it. It was written into law.
Yet the agency stalled. revealnews.org/article/there-…
8/ The Corps ultimately detonated a levee to activate the floodway, but not before causing millions of dollars in unnecessary damage to Cairo and surrounding communities, according to this report from the Illinois Department of Natural Resources: dnr.illinois.gov/WaterResources…
9/ In other words: The Corps’ job is to manage the flood risk posed by rivers. But in this case, it made the damage worse.
This @propublica graphic illustrates just how much worse: projects.propublica.org/graphics/cairo…
This @propublica graphic illustrates just how much worse: projects.propublica.org/graphics/cairo…
10/ We asked the Corps whether the delays stemmed from Cairo’s demographics.
They didn’t address our questions.
They didn’t address our questions.
11/ But residents like Phillip Matthews, a pastor, community activist and chair of the local Democratic Party, have their theories.
12/ The military is “normally big on policy and procedure,” he said. “So why did those rules not apply to the blacks in this city? … We didn’t even have the protection of something that was on the books.”
13/ Pinhook, meanwhile, was never the same.
It took residents seven years to find new property. It's in another town 30 miles away.
Their former home is empty.
It took residents seven years to find new property. It's in another town 30 miles away.
Their former home is empty.
14/ This was the government's emergency fallback plan for a flood: Wipe out a town to save more valuable land elsewhere.
Climate change means more disasters like this one, where communities of color will be among the first ones harmed.
Climate change means more disasters like this one, where communities of color will be among the first ones harmed.
15/ This is an ongoing project in partnership with @ProPublica. If you believe you’ve been harmed because of flood control projects protecting someone else, let @PatrickMichels and @lisalsong know.
16/ And if you want to get stories like this delivered straight to your inbox, sign up for our newsletter. revealnews.org/newsletter
