SOMETHING PEACEFUL

Though he was appalled by Brown’s killing, LaGrange said he hopes the bonfire will get people talking about what happened.

“It’s a tragedy, actually, and it’s a travesty of justice,” he said. “I disagree with the outcome, but I don’t think violence is the way, so we’re just trying to do something peaceful, and what we decided to call the model of saving our kids starts with educating them at home.”

My prayers and sympathy to the families of the unarmed black men and boy who will not be with them this holiday season.

 Michael Brown - Ferguson, Missouri
Dontre Hamilton - Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Eric Garner - New York, New York
John Crawford - Beavercreek, Ohio
Trayvon Martin - Miami, Florida
Tamir Rice - Cleveland, Ohio
And others not mentioned here.

My prayers and sympathy to the families of the two NYC police officers and two Las Vegas police officers who will not be with them this holiday season.

Officer Officer Wenjian Liu
Officer Rafael Ramos
Officer Alyn Beck
Officer Igor Soldo
And others not mentioned here.

For Persons in Bereavement

O merciful Father, who hast taught us in thy holy Word that thou dost not willingly afflict or grieve the children of men and women: Look with pity upon the sorrows of thy servants for whom our prayers are offered. Remember them, O Lord, in mercy, nourish their souls with patience, comfort them with a sense of thy goodness, lift up thy countenance upon them, and give them peace; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

(Book of Common Prayer)

For Peace

Eternal God, in whose perfect kingdom no sword is drawn
but the sword of righteousness, no strength known but the
strength of love: So mightily spread abroad your Spirit, that
all peoples may be gathered under the banner of the Prince of
Peace, as children of one Father; to whom be dominion and
glory, now and for ever. Amen.

(Book of Common Prayer)

IF YOU'RE WONDERING...

A tug boat pushes a barge up the Mississippi River near New Orleans Tuesday May 24, 2011.

From NOLA.com:

Based on a drop in the level of the swollen Mississippi River, the National Weather Service on Friday canceled its weeks-long flood warning for New Orleans and points downriver.

Despite this development for south Louisiana, the weather service’s flood warning remains in effect for points upriver, including Baton Rouge, where levee seepage has led the state Office of Transportation and Development to close River Road’s southbound lane from North Third Street to State Capitol Drive.
....

Although the threat to south Louisiana may seem to be abating, the Corps of Engineers declared the Bonnet Carre Spillway closed to recreation, including boating, until June 26.
....

Going into that area is dangerous because of the swift current — water is flowing toward Lake Pontchartrain at 293,000 cubic feet per second — and the debris that can get carried along in the torrent.

The damage that this combination can inflict was seen on the railroad bridge in the Bonnet Carre Spillway, where a supporting pier was dislodged. As a result, the legendary City of New Orleans train could get no closer than Hammond to its namesake city, with buses carrying passengers between that city and New Orleans.

The bridge has been repaired.

Water from the Mississippi River washes out part of the railroad bridge that crosses the Bonnet CarrÈ Spillway Tuesday, May 24, 2011.

The folks in New Orleans can breathe a sigh of relief, if not relax completely, about levee failure and flooding from the Mississippi River. The seepage in the levee upriver is worrying. As we saw the other day when we walked along the river in New Orleans, the Mississippi is a mighty river, and she wants to go her own way. Whether man-made controls will work, always involves a degree of uncertainty.

At the link to the Times-Picayune is a fine series of aerial photographs of the Mississippi, the control structures, and other areas near the river.

THE OLD RIVER CONTROL STRUCTURE - SIMMESPORT, LOUISIANA

Click on the map for the larger view.

The map above shows the locations of the Old River Control Structure and the Morganza Floodway.



Above is an aerial view of the Old River Control Structure. Image from Wikipedia.



Shown above is the Morganza Floodway with one bay open. As of now, 11 bays are open. The US Corps of Engineers expects to open 31 of the 125 bays in the floodway.

In the comments to this post at Wounded Bird, Paul (A.) asks a question and references an article in the New Yorker by John McPhee, written in 1987:

Is the opening of the floodway to the Atchafalaya the beginning of the end for Baton Rouge and New Orleans?

In response, I wrote a long comment which I decided to edit and use in a post.

Paul (A.), I read the article by McPhee when it came out in 1987. He writes about the Old River Control Structure at Simmesport, north of the Morganza Floodway. The Mississippi River wants to take the most direct route to the Gulf of Mexico, which is through the Atchafalaya River basin. If that happened vast areas would be flooded, and the Baton Rouge and New Orleans ports would be finished as major ports. The passage of large ships between NO and north of BR would cease, because the Mississippi River would not have enough water to support major shipping.

The Old River Control Structure was built to direct the major flow to the Mississippi River rather than the Atchafalaya River at roughly 70%/30%. McPhee and others think that the structure could fail and the river eventually have its way, and they may be right. However, since the article was written, an additional structure was added to the ORCS complex, which serves as further reinforcement to prevent a failure. We shall see.

The purpose of the Morganza Floodway is entirely different. It's built to send water into the Atchafalaya River basin to protect Baton Rouge, New Orleans, and the refineries and chemical plants along the Mississippi between Baton Rouge and New Orleans in the event the Mississippi reaches flood stage, which it has now. The flooding of the Atchafalaya River basin is to lower the level of water in the Mississippi River to prevent overtopping of the levees and to reduce the intense pressure from the high waters in the river, to prevent breaches. Either event could have catastrophic consequences.

I hope this helps.

Posted with the caveat that I am neither a flood engineer nor an expert on flooding.

MAP OF AREA THAT MAY BE FLOODED BY OPENING MORGANZA FLOODWAY

Click on the map for the enlarged view, and then click again for magnification. For those of you who may be concerned about us, you will see from the map that we are not in a zone which will be flooded when the Morganza Floodway is opened tomorrow. Thibodaux is just south of the center of the map.

The floodway will be opened to send more water down the Atchafalaya River basin in order to lower the volume of water in the Mississippi River from above Baton Rouge and New Orleans to prevent the river from overtopping the levees and to relieve pressure on the levees to prevent breaches which would flood a much larger number of people than those who will be flooded by opening the floodway. I feel sad for those who will be inundated, but even if the Morganza Spillway gates were not opened, certain areas near the Atchafalaya River would flood, because of water spilling over the top of the floodway gates. Water is lapping at the gates and leaking through them already.

I hope what I've written makes sense. Thank you for your concern.

THE THREAT OF THE RISING MISSISSIPPI RIVER

From NOLA.com:

Louisianians haven't lived though this dangerous a threat from the in more than a generation -- and that's an emergency that compels officials and residents alike to be prepared. It also warrants a full emergency declaration from the federal government.

Thousands of people across South Louisiana were evaluating their risk and making preparations Monday, as the Army Corps of Engineers continued taking measures to relieve pressure on river levees and minimize the expected flooding.

Crews began opening the Bonnet Carre Spillway in St. Charles Parish. Communities in the Atchafalaya Basin placed sand bags and alerted residents of possible evacuations if the Morganza Spillway is opened north of Baton Rouge. And Gov. Bobby Jindal directed hundreds of Louisiana National Guard troops to assist in those efforts and to be ready to help victims of flooding.

Corps of Engineers maps forecast flooding in large areas of St. Mary, Assumption, Terrebonne and other South Louisiana parishes if Morganza is opened for the first time since 1973. The corps still was estimating Monday how many homes and other structures may flood. But residents shouldn't have to wait for maps to make preparations. As Gov. Bobby Jindal warned: "If you got wet in 1973, you'll get wet this time. If you nearly got wet in 1973, you'll probably get wet this time."

As Gilda Radner said, "It's always something." Especially lately. One disaster follows another.



The Mississippi River at Rivertown in Kenner, Louisiana

If you turn around and face the other way toward the land, you are looking down, and you see very quickly that without the levee Rivertown and many other areas along the river would be flooded. We walked up a good many steps to get to the top of the levee.



The ship rides high, and the ships will ride higher as the river crests further south. Pray that the levees hold, and pray for the people who will be flooded by the opening of the Bonnet Carré Spillway and the Morganza Floodway.

UPDATE: The opening of the Bonnet Carré Spillway will not cause homes to flood, because the water will go into Lake Pontchartrain and the Rigolets, but it will, very likely, mess up certain of the oyster beds again. The poor oyster fishers have had a rough time of it what with the BP gusher and now the high river.