1/ This year we’re looking at how the government controls flooding along rivers.
For 100+ years, the Army Corps of Engineers built levees to keep water out of communities and farms. Here's how that works — and how it can make flooding worse:
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For 100+ years, the Army Corps of Engineers built levees to keep water out of communities and farms. Here's how that works — and how it can make flooding worse:
propub.li/2CuL3lY
2/ Then we looked at how it works in the real world, when the Corps has to decide who gets protected and who gets left behind.
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propub.li/2AMvXaH
3/ And in some cases, the Corps can't stop communities from protecting themselves at the expense of others:
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propub.li/2wTKOMl
4/ This week, we looked at what happens when the Corps' best laid plans meet reality.
In the 1920s, they set aside 130,000 acres in Missouri as a floodway — farmland that was designed to flood to save a city across the river.
It looked good on paper, but…
In the 1920s, they set aside 130,000 acres in Missouri as a floodway — farmland that was designed to flood to save a city across the river.
It looked good on paper, but…
5/ By 2011 those farms had become some of the most valuable land in the state.
And that city, Cairo, Illinois, had fallen into poverty, and was 70% black.
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And that city, Cairo, Illinois, had fallen into poverty, and was 70% black.
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6/ During a record 2011 flood, the Corps repeatedly delayed using the plan, acc. to a report. The result: millions of dollars in avoidable damage & near destruction of Cairo. A Corps official said that decision was based solely on river/levee conditions. propub.li/2wNF0E1
7/ The farmers in the floodway used political connections to try to stop the Corps.
Their congresswoman wrote to President Obama. They met with Corps leaders, and the Missouri AG sued (but lost).
In the end the Corps opened the floodway.
Their congresswoman wrote to President Obama. They met with Corps leaders, and the Missouri AG sued (but lost).
In the end the Corps opened the floodway.
8/ One small town in the floodway, Pinhook, had no voice in these discussions. Pinhook was founded by black farmers in the 1940s b/c the floodway was the only place they were allowed to buy land. Residents evacuated just in time & their town was destroyed. revealnews.org/episodes/flood…
9/ Two communities of color, on opposite sides of the river, were harmed in different ways in 2011.
For them it was a lose-lose situation.
For them it was a lose-lose situation.
10/ Floodways are sound science.
But they only work if used correctly.
The Corps had a chance to buy all the land in the floodway in the 1990s, but decided it was too expensive.
But they only work if used correctly.
The Corps had a chance to buy all the land in the floodway in the 1990s, but decided it was too expensive.
