Water Is The Thing

[dryheat]

I'll never understand Mississippi floods. If your going to build a home there, buy thirty or forty tons of dirt(there plenty of it) and build a little mound to put your house on. Maybe the gov. should pay for the dirt, might be cheaper in the long run. It's easier to pile up dirt than build levies which never seem to work. Now when there's a flood everyone has a personal beach for three weeks.
I have to think of everything

[blackhawknj]

When Hurricane Floyd hit NJ here in 1999, there was a low lying area in Trenton along the D&R canal that was hard hit. Those people were told they were NOT
going to rebuild.

[Cosine26]

I lived along the Mississippi River most of my young life I was born in Moorhead Miss and have some pictures of the flood of 1927. My father was with the Miss National Guard and was on the levee river when the flood came. My twin brother and I were evacuated to Sourthern Miss to my grandmothers house till the water went down. I have some pictures if anyone is interested. I was living in Greenville Miss when the near flood of 1937 came. The Coast Guard came up the river with cutters and barges to evacuate us if necessary. The levees held though the water got really high. After the flood of '27 additional levees were built so that there were two rows of levees up and down the River. My maternal grandfather lived in Arkansas along the River prior to the turn of 1900 and was flooded out twice. Thee is no taming the Mighty Mississippi!
FWIW

[Vern Humphrey]

I lived along the Mississippi River most of my young life I was born in Moorhead Miss and have some pictures of the flood of 1927. My father was with the Miss National Guard and was on the levee river when the flood came. My twin brother and I were evacuated to Sourthern Miss to my grandmothers house till the water went down. I have some pictures if anyone is interested. I was living in Greenville Miss when the near flood of 1937 came. The Coast Guard came up the river with cutters and barges to evacuate us if necessary. The levees held though the water got really high. After the flood of '27 additional levees were built so that there were two rows of levees up and down the River. My maternal grandfather lived in Arkansas along the River prior to the turn of 1900 and was flooded out twice. Thee is no taming the Mighty Mississippi!
FWIW

And you can make the point that it was a mistake to try -- all the levees do is contain the water and concentrate the flood, so when the levees burst or are overtopped it's much worse than it would b e.

[Cosine26]

A Mississippi River Adventure
The LST 888
My last active duty in the Navy occurred as a crew member of an LST. As previously reported I had joined the USNR and was active in the organized reserve. An occasion arose where the Navy needed to have an LST delivered to the USNR unit at Greenville, MS and sought volunteers. There was a requirement for reservists to perform some active duty so Scott and I volunteered. I was enrolled in Joseph H. Maybin high school so I could take the time off without falling behind.
On 28 November 1946, I reported to duty at the Headquarters of the Eighth Naval District at the Federal Building in New Orleans, LA. I received orders to report to the Naval Reserve Station at 0800 on 29 November. I was given a physical and cleared for active duty and was ordered to report to the LST 888 for active duty.
I reported aboard the LST 888 at 1400 on 29 November and reported to Lt. D.R. Childs, the CO. As there was no requirement for a radarman, I convinced Lt. Childs that I was a qualified helmsman based upon my experienced on the USS Providence during WWII. I was assigned a watch, quarters and station billet of helmsman. We spent the night aboard and departed NOLA at 0600 30 November. At 1500 we experienced a breakdown. The “Snipes” were able to repair the problem and we got underway again at 1600. We anchored out overnight. There was no travel on the Mississippi at night. On 1 December we passed Baton Rouge. As you can see, we were not making fast progress – after all we were going against the river. On 2 December we were under way again enjoying the scene ray along the Mississippi. We anchored out again. On 3 December we reached Natchez, MS, and anchored out again. On 4 December we passed Vicksburg, MS. A barge broke loose form a tow and we had to steer to avoid a collision. We anchored overnight and proceeded to Greenville MS arriving 1300 where we again anchored out. On 6 December, we docked at the Greenville pier and turned the ship over to the USNR commander.
We had liberty from 1300 to 2130 when we boarded the train to NOLA. We arrived in NOLA and were home at 1000 on 7 December.
Mississippi River pilots are highly qualified for only sections of the river. Our pilot was qualified to pilot from NOLA to Memphis Tenn. The Mississippi is an ever changing river so that pilots meet at crossover pints and exchange information about the latest river conditions.
It was a very interesting trip. As we sailed along, the pilot would give us specific instructions such as:
“Put jour jack staff on the chimney of that white house on the left bank and hold it there until you come abeam of that big oak on the starboard side. Then come starboard until your jack staff is on the big oak tree among the little owns. Now hold that course until you are a beam of the inlet on the port side.” “
And so it went all the way up the river. We only sailed during the day for there was no way to see the land marks during the night. At night we anchored and waited for daylight.
The worst thing about the entire trip was the coffee stored on board for our mess. It was dated 1945 and was stale. The food was not bad.
On 9 December, I reported back to the Federal Building and was released from active duty. I received a total of $35.33 for my service.
FWIW

[togor]

Cosine you're fantastic!

[SMOKEY]

When you live anywhere near water you are eventually gonna get wet. Just a matter of time. Build in a flood plain and be prepared to do the backstroke.

[Cosine26]

FIRST FLIGHT
As I previously indicated, I lived in Greenville, MS at the time of the imminent flood of in the spring of 1937. Because the Mississippi River had been diverted, Greenville was on Lake Ferguson, the previous curve of the River which had been bypassed. The levee was at the foot of Broad Street and one could walk up and see how high the River was. It was almost to the top. That is where the Coast Guard cutters and barges were tied up.
One of the last barnstormers landed his pontoon equipped Curtiss Robin aircraft at the foot of Broad Street. For $5.00 he offered rides over the flooded areas- $3.00 for my father and $1.00 each for me and my twin brother. We flew over Lake Ferguson and out over the River. It was quite a sight. At spots the River was close to 5 or 10 miles wide. My first aircraft ride and quite a thrill. That was one tired old bird.
What surprised me was that when one drove from Greenville to Jackson, one drove between two levees; on the River bank side was the original 1927 levee, while on the other side (about five miles inland) was the new levee. Obviously the land in between was where it flooded in 1927. As you can see-I moved to CA
For your further amusement !