2 ms·
Anyone interested in a long read about the Corps' work directing the flow of the Mississippi would do well to look at John McPhee's "Atchafalaya:" https://www.
by i_am_proteus 4y ago
Anyone interested in a long read about the Corps' work directing the flow of the Mississippi would do well to look at John McPhee's "Atchafalaya:"
https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/1987/02/23/atchafalaya https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/1987/02/23/atchafalaya
- syntheticnature 4y agoAlso a more-recent three-part blog series at Wunderground: https://www.wunderground.com/cat6/Americas-Achilles-Heel-Mississippi-Rivers-Old-River-Control-Structure https://www.wunderground.com/cat6/Americas-Achilles-Heel-Mis... Edit: I recommend reading both.
- i_am_proteus 4y agoThanks for this. The photos really round out the story. >The head of the Army Corps’ flood fight efforts, Major General Charles C. Noble, gave the order to open the Morganza Floodway two days later to relieve pressure on the Low Sill Structure. The governor of Louisiana telephoned and asked if he had the authority to order that the Morganza Floodway not be opened. General Noble told him no. When complaints arose that he was not giving the promised five days' notice, he replied that the river didn't give him five days' notice.