This article first appeared in the St. Louis Beacon, April 27, 2011 - On Jan. 25, 1937, an intentional blast breached a key levee in Missouri's Bootheel and sent a muddy crest of the flooding Mississippi River cascading into fertile farmland between the towns of Birds Point and New Madrid, Mo.
It was the first and only time that the Birds Point "fuse-plug levee" has ever been used to divert floodwater into what's called the New Madrid Floodway -- one of several lowland expanses designed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in the wake of the devastating 1927 flood on the lower Mississippi River.
This week, the corps has been considering what it has avoided doing for 74 years: busting a gap in the Birds Point levee to flood as much as 130,000 acres and relieve some of the flooding expected when the swollen Ohio River crests near Cairo, Ill., this weekend and surges into the Mississippi at the rivers' confluence.
But the corps has encountered a tidal wave of opposition from Missouri lawmakers -- including U.S. Sens. Roy Blunt, a Republican, and Claire McCaskill, a Democrat -- who joined U.S. Rep. JoAnn Emerson, R-Cape Girardeau, in urging President Barack Obama to direct the corps to consider alternatives to the levee-busting plan.
"The known and unknown risks of blowing the levee and releasing over one-half million cubic feet per second are sufficient to demand the highest level of attention and accountability," the three lawmakers wrote in a letter sent to Obama on Wednesday.
Asserting that the Birds Point floodway plan is "untested under modern conditions," the members of Congress added: "We are extremely concerned about the consequences of this action and strongly urge that alternative measures be identified."
Missouri Attorney General Chris Koster, citing the potential damage to farmland and homes in the floodway, filed a federal lawsuit this week, seeking to block any such move. He planned to go to the federal courthouse in Cape Girardeau on Thursday to ask the court to issue a temporary restraining order blocking the corps from setting off explosions at the Birds Point levee.
Koster says breaching the levee would flood 130,000 acres, damage 100 homes in the area, and also pollute the Mississippi and other state waters with agricultural chemicals being used and stored in buildings in the flooded area. Koster will argue that the corps hasn't looked closely at alternatives, such as other dams on upstream rivers that could accept more water, and he believes the corps lacks adequate information to make the irreversible decision to intentionally breach the levee at this time.
"The potential consequences resulting from the corps' proposed action are significant to both Missouri and Illinois. There are no 'good' options at this juncture," Koster said in a statement. "Nonetheless, given the long-term effects of the federal government's proposal to blow the levee on so many Missouri citizens, we are demanding a review by the federal court before the detonation is allowed to go forward."
Cairo Crest a Key to Corps' Birds Point Decision
Cairo, an oft-flooded city of about 2,800 residents at the confluence of the Mississippi and Ohio rivers at Illinois' southern tip, is at the center of the storm over Birds Point.
While Cairo has an extensive levee system, the Ohio River was more than 18 feet over flood stage there as of mid-day Wednesday -- about 1.5 feet below the record set in 1937. The National Weather Service has forecasted a crest this weekend that, depending on the most recent rains, could crest more than a foot over that records level.
The city's mayor, Judson Childs, has argued for the levee breach at Birds Point, which is located just south of where the Ohio merges with the Mississippi. While he expressed confidence that Cairo's levees would prevent serious flooding, Childs -- in the wake of the heavy rains that continued to pummel the Ohio Valley -- also urged residents of the city to move to higher ground until after the river crests.
In a statement reported Wednesday by Reuters news service, Childs said, "The city of Cairo is on the verge of being the next 9th Ward of New Orleans" -- a reference to a ward devastated by flooding after Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Childs said Cairo is 70 percent African-American with a large population of senior citizens, most with "nowhere to go and no way to get there."
Childs added: "It's a shame that anyone would argue that saving farmland in a designated floodway is more important than saving lives," Childs said. "We will not stand by and watch this happen."
The Illinois state representative whose district includes Cairo, Democrat Brandon Phelps of Harrisburg, told TheSouthern.com news site that Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon should not try to block the corps' actions to try to relieve flooding in Cairo. "I find it very troubling that the Missouri governor believes Missouri farmland is more valuable than the lives of Illinois residents," Phelps said. "Cairo could be wiped off the map."
James T. Pogue, a spokesman for the corps' Memphis District, told the Beacon on Wednesday that "no definitive decision is going to be made until this weekend." Even if the federal court clears the way for a detonation of the floodway's levee, Pogue says it would take a dozen hours to set explosive charges and detonate them.
In the meantime, the president of the Mississippi River Commission, Maj. Gen. Michael Walsh, who commands the corps' Mississippi Valley Division, gave the green light for the corps to start moving barges loaded with explosives and equipment.
The corps set up a temporary office in Sikeston and Mississippi County officials asked residents to evacuate the floodway -- which might be partially flooded even if the corps does not breach the levee. Missouri National Guard units were helping with the evacuation, county officials said.
Flood danger worries Illinois lawmakers
While Missouri lawmakers were up in arms about a possible Birds Point detonation, their llinois counterparts were more circumspect -- saying that they would rely on the expertise and judgment of corps officials in making the call.
"I am in regular contact with Corps of Engineers officials as they assess all pertinent information regarding the best course of action to deal with flood conditions in Cairo," said U.S. Rep. Jerry Costello, D-Belleville, whose congressional district extends to Cairo.
U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., received a briefing from corps and state officials on Tuesday and planned to visit flooded areas in southern Illinois, but had to cancel the trip at the last minute Wednesday because of inclement weather. Durbin's spokeswoman told the Beacon that the senator relied on the corps' technical judgment on flooding issues.
"My thoughts are with all affected families and individuals, particularly those in Cairo, Brookport and Grand Tower who are being asked to evacuate their homes," said Durbin in a statement. "I will continue to work closely with federal, state and local officials to ensure that every resource is made available to communities along the Ohio, Illinois and Mississippi Rivers and other affected areas."
As of the time of the briefing, residents in the towns of Cairo, Brookport and Grand Tower have been asked to voluntarily evacuate their homes and businesses, in anticipation of the rising waters. According to the Army Corps of Engineers, the Mississippi and Illinois River levels are high in the Metro East region, but the gates, drains and pumps are working normally and the levee systems are operating as designed.
Sen. Mark Kirk, R-Ill., said he wanted to make sure that flooded communities get the help they need. "My staff and I are following the flood situation closely and will continue to work with other state and federal agencies to ensure affected communities get the support and relief they need throughout this rainy season," Kirk said in a statement to the Beacon.
Without Detonation, Birds Point Could Be Breached
Designed after the great 1927 flood as a "fuse plug" levee, the Birds Point levee is lower than most of the region's other levees and could be breached naturally by floodwaters -- even without a detonation by the corps.
The Birds Point/New Madrid floodway is 35 miles long and varies from 4 to 12 miles in width. Its area comprises about 133,000 acres, or 205 square miles of land.
A spokesman for the corps, Bob Anderson, told journalists that, even if the federal court in Cape Girardeau declines to issue a restraining order, the corps would closely analyze the expected river levels and look into other options -- such as sandbagging in Cairo -- before deciding what to do at the Birds Point levee.
He told the Associated Press that the final decision would be made if the flooding "gets to a critical point [with] the river reaching 61 feet and the chance the river will continue to rise, threatening all of the levee system and thousands of homes and people."
Emerson, whose district includes the floodway area, urged the corps to study all alternatives closely. "Intentionally breaching the levee is a serious matter. The consequences for our congressional district would be immediate and, in most cases, permanent," she said in a statement to the Beacon. "The structures and property in the floodway value in the hundreds of millions of dollars -- Missourians' homes and livelihoods."
The congresswoman said she expects "an ironclad justification from the corps addressing all these factors, and I insist that every alternative to breaching the levee be exhausted before that decision is made. We have the time to think carefully about the next step, to explore other solutions, and to give the situation a chance to abate. We ought to take advantage of that and rush to no judgments."
St. Louis-area levees, flood structures holding, so far
As the Mississippi neared its crest, authorities in the St. Louis region said that levees, flood walls and other structures were expected to hold back the high water without significant damage.
In Crystal City, a 100-foot section of the city's levee system was causing moderate concern, but officials said it was holding up. Col. Thomas O'Hara, who commands the corps' St. Louis District, said Tuesday that "the soil has slipped off'' that segment of the city's 3,600-foot-long levee system, but heavy equipment was brought in to push the soil back into place.
O'Hara said that the Corps was heartened by reports that the Mississippi would crest below earlier estimates. He gave a brief tour of the Crystal City levee to U.S. Rep. Russ Carnahan, D-St. Louis, who said he was optimistic that the levees would hold. "The structural integrity is still good,'' he told the Beacon's Jo Mannies. "We should be good for this flood season."
Levee structures in the Metro East area also were holding up. Costello and Rep. John Shimkus, R-Ill., got a briefing this week from the Corps' O'Hara and from Jonathon Monken, who directs the Illinois Emergency Management Agency.
The two lawmakers encouraged to Corps and IEMA to work closely with local levee districts and local emergency disaster agencies in coordinating all plans, preparations and activities in dealing with flooding throughout southwestern and southern Illinois.