Monday, June 20, 2011

Missouri River Floods a Million Acres of Farmland

The flooding of the Missouri River story is from my old stomping grounds. In college, I spent a spring afternoon somewhat dangerously on the Mighty Mo with three friends in a small rubber raft floating to Omaha when the river was high. I've biked the Steamboat Trace Trail many times near Brownville, Nebraska which follows the river near the Cooper Nuclear Power Plant which has been in the news due to its flooded conditions (as has the Fort Calhoun plant). I have friends and family working near the high water in Omaha and using Eppley Airport which is currently pumping water off of its grounds. To follow are a few photo highlights and videos to tell the story.---KM

"But the biggest loser in this flood likely will be rural farmland. Farm fields all along the river are underwater. Early estimates put acreage lost, close to a million acres."---Market to Market



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Gavins Point Dam releases 150,000 cfs - YANKTON, S.D. – Gavins Point Dam releases 150,000 cubic feet per second of water June 14, 2011, a record that more than doubles the previous high release. (U.S. Army Corps of Engineers photo by Jay Woods)

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Gavins Point DamYANKTON, S.D.— Gavins Point Dam before the flows were increased to 150,000 cubic feet per second, June 14, 2011. (U.S. Army Army Corps of Engineers photo by Jay Woods)

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Water overtops a levee in Atchison County, Missouri - Water flows from the Missouri River over levee L-550, located north of Highway 136 in Atchison County, Mo., June 19. The local sponsor reported overtopping of the levee to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers the morning of June 19. The levee is in the Federal Program (PL 84-99) and is operated and maintained by a non-federal sponsor. It was constructed by the Corps in the late 1940s. (U.S. Army Corps of Engineers photo by Carlos J. Lazo)


Video shot at Gavins Point Dam at a point of 140,000 cfs release.