The Snake . . .

There was a photo of an alledged snake along side of the road coming out of the Morganza Spillway. I think that photo went viral.

Turns out it is either a Brazilian or Australian photo. The trees in the back ground are nothing like ones would find in and around the Morganza Spillway. So it is a hoax, kinda got to expect some of that given that we are dealing with a sort of premordial area like a swamp.

There are more than one vedio shot of deer escaping the spillway heading for high and dry ground. Since there is a large wildlife area in Pointe Coupee over close to Krotz Springs, it extends down into Iberville Parish. I mean the area is not much good for anything else.

Apparently the water is not moving south as fast as the Corps of Engineers expected into the Atchafalaya Swamp and basin. But then the Mississippi has not crested either. So I expect they will open a few more gates to discharge about 100 to 150 thousand cubic feet per second. A cubic foot holds 7.4805 gallons, so that is about three quarters of million of gallons a second. That is a lot of water to turn loose.

We have several more weeks of this to deal with. Then when to close the gates as the river goes down, we will see what has transpire at the spillway structure. I am sure there will be much work to do to repair things. Got to replace or rearrange rip rap, check for scouring, replacement of soil in front of the structure etc., that will take some time to assess and evaluate.

We need to get ready for the flood to occur again. But it appears the Morganza Spillway is doing its intended job, to reduce the flow of the Mississippi in a controled and measured manner. It has been done many times at the Bonnet Carre since the 1930s. It has to be very serious for the Morganza Spillway to be opened. And all indicators, the river gauges, show the levels exceed the infamous 1927 flood levels.

It is a pity that over time along these cities or ports of the Mississippi, like Natchez, Vicksburg, and Memphis, all had to relearn the lessons of history. People should not build in the flood zones of those localities. Yet, they do it just like they do it down in the Atchafalaya Swamp. They know better and do it anyway as the land is cheap.