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Birds Point levee reconstruction, Mississippi County flood damage
Date: 12/12/2011 Album ID: 1377666
Photos by David Carson
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US Army Corps of Engineers is building a temporary levee to 55 feet on the gage at Cairo, Ill. on the upper part of Birds Point levee in Mississippi County on Thursday December 8, 2011. Damage from the flood water that washed over Mississippi County farmland and the town of Pinhook can still be seen.
Eddie Spralls, a deckhand with the US Army Corps of Engineers, climbs into a hesco barrier to compact the soil that was dumped into it help form a temporary levee at Birds Point in Mississippi County on Thursday December 8, 2011. The barriers are part of the second phase of the reconstruction of 9,000 feet of the upper part of the Birds Point levee. The temporary levee is designed to provide flood protection to 55 feet on the gage at Cairo, Ill. Jim Pogue, Public Affairs Office Chief for the US Army Corps of Engineers says the Corps is committed to permanently restoring the levee to 62.5 feet, it's hight before the floodway was activated, but that currently the restoration project is only funded permanently restore the levee to 55 feet. Photo By David Carson, dcarson@post-dispatch.com
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Workers with heavy equipment are adding hesco barriers filled with soil to help form a temporary levee on the Birds Point levee in Mississippi County on Thursday December 8, 2011. The barriers are part of the second phase of the reconstruction of 9,000 feet of the upper part of the Birds Point levee that is designed to provide flood protection to 55 feet on the gage at Cairo, Ill. Photo By David Carson, dcarson@post-dispatch.com
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A bobcat moves a hesco barrier along
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Becky Jones wipes a tear from her eyes as she stands in the living room her home in Mississippi County that was flooded on Thursday December 8, 2011. Jones and her husband McIvan Jones had lived in the house for 35 years. The home was flooded when the US Army Corps of Engineers activated the Birds Point floodway by using explosives to blow a hole in the levee in May 2011 to relieve pressure from the rising river levels on the levee walls in Cairo, Ill. The couple plan to tear down the home in the spring as they can not rebuild the home without raising the home up 10 feet. Photo By David Carson, dcarson@post-dispatch.com
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McIvan Jones and his wife had owed this house in Mississippi County for 35 years. The home was flooded when the US Army Corps of Engineers activated the Birds Point floodway by using explosives to blow a hole in the levee in May 2011 to relieve pressure from the rising river levels on the levee walls in Cairo, Ill. The couple plan to tear down the home in the spring as they can not rebuild the home without raising the home up 10 feet. Water rose to roof line of the home during the flooding. Photo By David Carson, dcarson@post-dispatch.com
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A home washed off it's foundation by floodwater from the activation of the Birds Point New Madrid Floodway sits in a stand of trees about 200 yards from it's orginal spot. The house is owned by farmer Jack Moxley, whose parents built the house in the 1940s. Moxley farms 2000 acres in the floodway, about a mile from where the U.S. Army Corp of Engineers breached the Birds Point levee. The top picture was taken June 17, 2011 and the bottom picture was taken December 8, 2011. David Carson dcarson@post-dispatch.com
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A doll sits in a pile of debris in a trailer that was damaged by flood water when the Birds Point floodway was activated in May, 2011 flooding the small town of Pinhook. According to a sign on the side of the road leading into town the historically african american community had a population of 30 people before the flood. Pinhook is now largely abandoned. Photo By David Carson, dcarson@post-dispatch.com
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An abandoned trailer in the town of Pinhook that was damaged by flood water when the Birds Point floodway was activated in May, 2011. The small, historically african american town had a population, according to a sign outside of town, of 30 people before the flood. Photo By David Carson, dcarson@post-dispatch.com
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A home off of State Highway YY in Mississippi County that sits in the Mississippi County floodway. The floodway was activated in May of 2011 by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers who used explosives to breach the Birds Point Levee as part of the Birds Point New Madrid Floodway activation plan that send flood water from the Mississippi River washing over the homes and farmland in the area. Photo By David Carson, dcarson@post-dispatch.com
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A home off of State Highway YY in Mississippi County that sits in the Mississippi County floodway. The floodway was activated in May of 2011 by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers who used explosives to breach the Birds Point Levee as part of the Birds Point New Madrid Floodway activation plan that send flood water from the Mississippi River washing over the homes and farmland in the area. Photo By David Carson, dcarson@post-dispatch.com
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Tractors sit by a field of newly planted winter wheat in the Mississippi County floodway on December 8, 2011. The floodway was activated in May of 2011 by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers who used explosives to breach the Birds Point Levee as part of the Birds Point New Madrid Floodway activation plan that send flood water from the Mississippi River washing over the homes and farmland in the area. Photo By David Carson, dcarson@post-dispatch.com
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The inside of an abandoned home in the town of Pinhook that was damaged by flood water when the Birds Point floodway was activated in May, 2011. The small, historically african american town had a population, according to a sign outside of town, of 30 people before the flood. Photo By David Carson, dcarson@post-dispatch.com
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An abandoned home in the town of Pinhook that was damaged by flood water when the Birds Point floodway was activated in May, 2011. The small, historically african american town had a population, according to a sign outside of town, of 30 people before the flood. Photo By David Carson, dcarson@post-dispatch.com
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Clothes still hang the closet of a home in the tiny town of Pinhook in Mississippi County, Missouri. The historically black town was washed over by floodwater when the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers used explosives to breach the Birds Point Levee as part of the Birds Point New Madrid Floodway activation plan. The town has a population of 52, but all the home now appears to be abandoned and vacant. The top picture was taken June 17, 2011 and the bottom picture was taken December 8, 2011. David Carson dcarson@post-dispatch.com
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