Nearly a million acres of prime Mississippi farmland threatened by approaching mega-flood

Friday, May 06, 2011 by: Ethan A. Huff, staff writer
Tags: Mississippi, flood, health news

(NaturalNews) Torrential rains and melting winter snow continue to saturate the US Midwest. The water has already caused massive flooding and record swelling of both the Mississippi and Ohio rivers. And according to MPB News in Mississippi, the worst is yet to come as this deadly, 500-year flood is expected to wipe out nearly a million farming acres in Mississippi alone, not to mention the hundreds of thousands of acres of farmland in other states like Missouri, Arkansas, and Tennessee that also touch these bursting rivers.

Several cities along the Mississippi River have already been evacuated, including areas around Memphis, Tenn. Reuters has reported that the Tennessee Emergency Management Agency (TEMA) has begun going door-to-door in and around Memphis urging people to evacuate (http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/05/05/us...). And all along the Mississippi, from Minnesota all the way down to Louisiana, record-level flooding is currently taking place that is sparking other evacuation and preparedness measures.

Besides the destruction of homes, businesses, and major infrastructure, the flooding is also in the process of destroying hundreds of thousands of acres of precious farmland. Earlier today, the Army Corp of Engineers (ACE) added to this destruction by deliberately setting off a third and final detonation of the Birds Point Levee near New Madrid, Mo., releasing millions of tons of water into several hundred thousand acres of farmland in Missouri, in order to protect the decaying town of Cairo, Ill. from flooding (http://www.kfvs12.com/story/14557528/birds-p...).

According to reports, ACE is also considering blasting two other levees in Louisiana, which would release untold millions of tons of water into the Bonnet Carre and Morganza floodways in that state. If these levees end up being demolished, it will be the first time ever that three major flood plains have been intentionally flooded in the same year (http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/05/05/us...).

The unprecedented loss of farmland and food crops; the destruction of homes, businesses and infrastructure; and the potential triggering of a massive earthquake in the New Madrid Seismic Zone (NMSZ) are all of primary concern as this Mississippi flood situation escalates. Interestingly, the US Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is set to conduct a catastrophic earthquake exercise near the NMSZ from May 16 - May 19, 2011, which coincides perfectly with this ticking time bomb (http://www.fema.gov/about/regions/regionvii/...).

Sources for this story include:

http://www.mpbonline.org/news/story/mississi...