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Loading...Bird’s Eye View Of Flooding In Memphis, Tennessee
Bruce J. Hughes, Memphis resident, took the time out of his busy schedule dealing with the recent floods to answer our questions:
Q. Can you describe the scene as the Mississippi River rises in Memphis, Tennessee?
A. Memphis downtown is built on a high bluff so it’s unlikely the water would get into downtown Memphis but areas north and south do have some flooding in lower lying areas. Across the river in Arkansas is a different story. The river spreads to the west from 1/2 to 3/4 of a mile in normal times but is now 2-3 miles wide, flooding an area that is farmed and into West Memphis.
Q. Have you ever seen anything like this before?
A. We see the river up into Arkansas every 2-3 years but in the last 45 years I’ve never seen the area around Tom Lee Park under water as it has been this spring. The housing that has been built on Mud Island in the last 15 years was close to being under water but, I think dry.
Q. Are you involved in the sense that your farmland is being flooded? Or that people you know, or your family, are watching their land being flooded?
A. I know of no one that has been flooded. The damage has mostly been confined to river dwellings and lower income housing and trailer parks.
Q. What are people’s plans for the future? Do they have other resources they can turn to?
A. The clean up for people affected will be very difficult as many homes or trailers that had water 4′ or more will be almost total losses.
Q. Are you from this region? Will you continue to live there, despite these threats from the Mississippi River? What are your plans for the future?
A. The flooding has been limited to few areas. In mid-town Memphis, east Memphis and most areas the damage is very limited. So yes, I don’t plan to move.
Thank you Bruce!
Read more: environment & wildlife
Photo Credit: tbertor's1 photostream via Creative Commons
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+ add your ownSome of this could possibly have been prevented
THIS IS VERY SCARY. I AM FROM TENN. AND JUST WHERE YOU THINK A FLOOD WILL NOT OCCUR, IT WILL SHOW UP!
One natural disaster after another.People need to be more careful where they live and quit trying to fight nature.But then,does location really matter anymore?Is any place safe? So sad.
thanks for sharing
I was born and grew up in Memphis. I clearly remember the downtown riverfront with it's levee running up the high bluff.My Dad was a riverboat Captain .He talked alot about the river.As I've traveled I better understandwhat he meant.As people build on "River front property"more homes are flooded.As more dikes are built to protect the houses,other areas that don't have dikes become those that flood.I visit Fargo,N D.frequently.Yearly the Red River of the North floods.The river (which runs north)runs through acres and acres of low,rich farm land.As people build expensive permanent homes,they seek to prevent flooding in that area. Unfortunately that pushes the flow of the river into a narrower channel.Temporally.It's like patching a hose full of holes with bandaids.As long as individual fixes are done in individual places,flooding will continue to innondate lovely new neighborhoods. Towns like Peoria Ill.will live at the mercy of their wealthy upstream neighbors who farm the rich Missouri riverbed.(which is protected by dikes)
We need to acknowledge that the river belongs to the river.We need to give it what it already owns.People who choose to farm riverbed need to accept the flooding that brings the richness to their soil.WHEN Homes are never built in a flood plain,The river, complete with it's flood plain, will return to it's ecological function of water purification and wildlife sanctionary.AND peoples homes will no longer be filled with the river.
You know, climate change deniers can stick there head in the sand, but Mother Nature is someday going to make fools of them and all those politicians that keep voting against alternative energy. The sad thing is everyone in the way of Her fury is going to suffer.
Would not want to live there.
thanks for sharing.
Should the government do more to reduce this type of disaster? The Army Corp of Engineers are great at Terra forming. The problem is that trying to contain one of the largest river systems in the world will be futile. There comes appoint where the river will break free of it's shackles. Build to allow for the natural process of flooding. Build high away from the flood plan. Build islands within the flood plain. Build floating buildings like the Dutch. But let the river do what it needs to do or this is what we shall reap..
Horrible!
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