Showing posts with label flood. Show all posts
Showing posts with label flood. Show all posts

Saturday, June 22, 2019

The Flood of 2019 (Part 3), the Yazoo Backwater near Onward and Yazoo City, Mississippi

We will continue our review of the flooding in the southern part of the Mississippi Delta, the area known as the Yazoo Backwater. The last article was about the area near the town of Redwood. Here we continue north a few miles to Onward and briefly jump east to Yazoo City.

Onward is an unincorporated farming community near US 61 south of Rolling Fork. Onward is known for two historical notes:
  1. This is near the site where president Teddy Roosevelt refused to shoot a baby bear that had been tied to a tree as a target for the president. A toy company picked up on the refusal to shoot, started making stuffed bears, and the rest is history - one of the most successful children's toys ever. It became an international toy, as well; my Steiff bear was from Germany.
  2. The Onward Country Store has been in business since 1913. It is (or was) a popular stop with European tourists who travel on US 61, the Blues Highway. But there is bad news: the Onward store may have closed as of April 2019, according to an article in The Vicksburg Daily News. I will write about the Onward Store soon. 
Onward Store, 1996, before removal of gasoline pump canopy (4×5" Tri-X film, 75mm ƒ/8 Supar-Angulon lens)
This is the front of the Onward Store as of 1996. The store faces US 61 (the Blues Highway) and is just south of the intersection with Rte 1. Residents of Eagle Lake need to drive on Rte 1, then turn south on 465 and access the mainline levee. The levee road eventually gets them to Eagle Lake.
Farm north of Rte 1, April 11, 2019 (Panatomic-X film, Fuji GW690II camera, yellow filter)
Farm fields north of Rte 1 near 465 junction, March 29, 2019 (Ektar 25 film, Hasselblad 501CM, 250mm Sonnar lens)
Some of the fields north of Rte 1 were semi-dry, but heading west and closer to the mainline levees, the road dipped down, and the surrounding fields were inundated.
Flooded woods, Hwy 465, March 29, 2019 (Fuji Acros film, Vito BL camera, 50mm ƒ/3.5 Color-Skopar lens, GGr filter)
Flooded woods, Rte 1 near levee, April 11, 2019 (Panatomic-X film, Fuji GW690II camera, 90mm lens, ½ sec ƒ/16½) 
Rte 465 takes off south from Rte 1. The day I drove on it, a short section was underwater, but people were driving through, so I did the same carefully. The road runs through forest, much of which was flooded. What struck me was the number of snakes. I saw numerous ones that were squashed and hit at least one when it slithered across the road just in time for my tires. It appears that they cross from the woods on one side of the highway to the other. Most looked like black water moccasins, but one nicely patterned fellow sitting quietly in the middle of the pavement looked like a rattlesnake. (I decided to not get out and check in person.)
Unoccupied house, US 61, Onward (Fuji acros film, Vito BL camera, GGr filter, 1/30 sec ƒ/11½) 
Back in Onward, the fields just east of 61 were dry. I saw this unused mid-century house slowly being engulfed with vines.
Dusk at Egremont, view west, March 29, 2019 (Vito BL camera, 50mm Color-Skopar lens, GGr filter) 
Egremont is a small community south of Rolling Fork. I have more Egremont photographs to share in the future.
Hwy 16 west of Yazoo City, March 13, 2019 (Ektar 25, Hasselblad 501CM, 250mm Sonnar lens)
Hwy 16 west of Yazoo City, March 13, 2019 (Ektar 25, Hasselblad 501CM, 250mm Sonnar lens)
To the east, Yazoo City (the "Gateway to the Delta") sits on the edge of the loess bluffs. But to the west lies the flat Mississippi Delta and the Yazoo River. The fields along Hwy 16 were inundated as of mid-March when I took these pictures with my Hasselblad camera.

This concludes a short look at the flooding in the Yazoo Backwater. As of mid-June, much of this area is still under water. Depending on water conditions, I may do some more exploring and photographing.

Click the link for Part 1 of this series.
Click the link for Part 2 of this series.

Saturday, June 15, 2019

The Flood of 2019 (Part 2), the Yazoo Backwater near Redwood, Mississippi

This is Part 2 of our article about the 2019 flood in west central Mississippi. In the previous article, we covered the inundation in the area around Vicksburg, which is directly affected by the level of the Mississippi and Yazoo Rivers. Here we will look at the flooding that occurred north of the Steele Bayou flood gates.
Yazoo Backwater (from NOAA)
The Yazoo Backwater is the area of the Mississippi Delta that is north of the Steele Bayou floodgate. As I wrote in the previous article, if heavy rail has fallen in west central Mississippi, the water heads south through creeks and bayous, eventually into the Yazoo River and then to the Mississippi River. But levees line the Yazoo River, and if the Mississippi River elevation is high, the US Army Corps of Engineers closes the Steele Bayou gates and the local drainage has no way to escape into the Yazoo River. The result is varying degree of inundation in the area shown in gray on the map.
MS route 465 just west of US 61, Redwood, Mississippi, March 13, 2019 (Kodak Ektar 25 film, 250mm Sonnar lens)
Eagle lake is an oxbow lake in the southern part of the Yazoo Backwater. It is the blue crescent at the lower left in the gray area. The residents were told to evacuate in January. But many decided to stay in their homes and tried to hold back water with sandbags. One of my friends lives there and said convicts were brought in to help with sandbagging. She cooked meals for all the workers.
Hunting camp on stilts off US 61 near MS 465 turnoff, March 14, 2019 (50mm Distagon lens)
In March, this elevated mobile home was visible from a dirt road, but now the foliage is too thick.
Hendricks Lane off Floweree Road, March 14, 2019 (80mm Planar lens)
Farm shed, Perry Circle off Floweree Road, Redwood (photograph from former railroad embankment, 80mm Planar lens)
Morning Star MB Church, Floweree Road (80mm Planar lens, polarizer)
Tree trunk, Floweree Road, March 15, 2019 (80mm Planar lens, polarizer)
Floweree Road is a U-shaped road that takes off from US 61 just north of the turnoff for MS 465. It was an interesting road to bicycle in January because of the water all around. We saw a dead boar being eaten by vultures. Presently (June 6, 2019) Floweree Road is completely inundated and impassible by cars. All the scenes above are at least 1-2 ft deeper in the water now. The railroad once ran near Floweree Road, and many farmers parked farm equipment up on the embankment.
House and flooded car, US 61, Redwood, March 29, 2019 (Fuji Acros 100 film, Voigtländer Vito BL camera, 50mm f/3.5 Color-Skopar lens, yellow filter)
Inundated house, US 61, Redwood, March 29, 2019 (Acros film, Vito BL, GGr filter)
Mobile home and almost-safe vehicles, US 61, Redwood, March 29, 2019 (Acros film, Vito BL, GGr filter)
Cars parked along US 61 for safety, near Floweree Road, Redwood (Acros film, Vito BL camera)
Farm off US 61 near Floweree Road, Rdwood (Acros film, Vito BL, yellow filter)
This has been a quick look at the scene off US 61 (the Blues Highway) near Redwood, Mississippi. I will continue this 2019 flood topic the next article.

Saturday, June 8, 2019

The Flood of 2019 (Part 1): Vicksburg, Mississippi

Introduction

The Mississippi River and Yazoo Backwater flood of 2019 will go down in the record books as one of the longest-lasting inundations in this part of the world. The Mississippi River rose above flood stage of 43 ft on the Vicksburg gauge in early January and stayed high June In the meantime, the central part of the state received record rainfall in January and February, filling creeks and streams in the Yazoo Backwater.
Plot of water level measured at the Vicksburg Gage, located near the Interstate 20 bridge. Major flood is defined as 50.0 ft on the gage. Plot from National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
Plot of Mississippi River stage over the first five months of 2019. Spike in mid-May is a bad data point.

Brief background

Let me digress with a short explanation of the hydrology of the region and why you see so much water. Levees (or dikes) line the Mississippi River all the way from central Missouri to the mouth of the river in the Gulf of Mexico, well south of New Orleans. The purpose of the levees is to prevent the river from flooding farmland and towns in the midwest during high river stages. The Yazoo River is a tributary of the Mississippi, meaning it flows into the larger river. The Yazoo drains west central Mississippi, much of it comprising the broad flat alluvial plain known as the Mississippi Delta (the same Delta famed for Blues music).

But during high water, several complicated issues arise:
  • Problem no. 1: If the Mississippi River is in flood, the water will back up the Yazoo and inundate farmland and towns. Therefore, the US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) built levees along the Yazoo. The USACE installed flood control gates into the levee at a place called Steele Bayou, near the town of Redwood. The USACE closes the gates to prevent those flood waters from rolling over the farms of the southern Delta.
  • Problem no. 2: If there has been heavy local rain in west central Mississippi, the streams and bayous of the Delta rise. But if the Mississippi is simultaneously in flood, the Steele Bayou gates are closed. Therefore, there is no place for the local runoff to drain out, and the water collects and rises behind (or north of) the gates. February to June of 2019 was one of these periods when both the Mississippi River was in flood and there had been torrential rain in the state of Mississippi – for weeks. There was no place for the water in the Yazoo Backwater to go, and the area experienced the longest-lasting inundation since the 1973 flood. 
  • To add complexity to this problem: in 1941, Congress authorized the USACE to install pumps near Steele Bayou to pump Yazoo backwater water up and over the levee into the Yazoo River. However, the construction was not funded. These pumps would be some of the largest on earth and today would cost over $300 million. The EPA cancelled this project in 2008. Congress, farmers, and environmentalists have been fighting over the infamous pumps since the 1940s. You see where this is going….
I will divide this topic into three articles. This first will show photographs from Vicksburg and the area south of the Steele Bayou flood gate, meaning the area directly influenced by the water elevation on the Mississippi River. The next two articles will cover the terrain north of the Steele Bayou flood gate, the southern part of the Mississippi Delta (note, this is not the delta in the Gulf of Mexico - the terminology is confusing).

For some more information about how all this water reaches the Gulf of Mexico, see my 2011 article about the Old River Control.

Vicksburg scenes

Yazoo Canal from North Washington Street
These are the flooded woods next to the Yazoo Canal along North Washington Street. Unfortunately, many little forest animals like possums and raccoons come out of the woods and get hit by cars.
Big River Shipbuilders on Port Terminal Circle, Port of Vicksburg, March 21, 2019 (Fuji Acros film, Vito BL camera)
The shipbuilding and repair company needed to set up a floating walkway for their employees.
Ford Road, Vicksburg, March 8, 2019 (Hasselblad 501CM, 80mm ƒ/2.8 Planar CB lens)
The Ford subdivision, located just north of the Vicksburg Forest Products complex, floods almost every year recently. I asked an older gent why the houses were allowed to be built in this vulnerable area. He said in the past, other than during the historic 1973 flood, the land did not flood. If this is true, what had changed?
Young Alley, Vicksburg (80mm Planar lens)
Vicksburg Southern Railroad (VSOR) tracks extending north to International Paper mill north of Redwood (250mm ƒ/5.6 Sonnar lens)
The cottages off Young Alley appeared to be dry this year. Further north, the Vicksburg Southern Railroad tracks serve as a levee, keeping the water partly away from North Washington Street.
Raised mobile home off Falk Steel Road, photograph taken from VSOR tracks, March 8, 2019 (50mm ƒ/4 Distagon lens)
The raised mobile home os on its own berm, therefore being safe from flooding. I saw a fellow leave the house and walk through the water using a garbage sack as a form of waders.
Kings Crossing Road west of N. Washington Street, March 15, 2019 (80mm Planar lens)
Kings Crossing Road leads west to some fields and woods. Many years ago, a fellow had a number of railroad postal cars parked in a field, but an old gent in a pickup truck said the rail cars were dragged away for scrap. The gent in the truck said the aluminum boat was his and he used it to get to his house.
Farm road off N. Washington Street, March 14, 2019 (250mm Sonnar lens)
In the photograph above, the flooded fields are beyond the railroad embankment and tracks.

The color photographs are from expired Kodak Ektar 25 film, exposed with a tripod-mounted Hasselblad 501CM camera with 50mm, 80mm, and 250mm Zeiss lenses. The colors are not quite right, but by using the gray dropper tool, the SilverFast scanner software recovered most colors.

High- and low-water records

From weather.gov:

Flood Categories (in feet)
Major Flood Stage:50
Moderate Flood Stage:46
Flood Stage:43
Action Stage:35


Historic Crests
(1) 57.10 ft on 05/19/2011
(2) 56.20 ft on 05/04/1927
(3) 53.20 ft on 02/21/1937
(4) 52.80 ft on 06/06/1929
(5) 52.50 ft on 04/28/1922
(6) 51.60 ft on 05/13/1973
(7) 51.50 ft on 02/15/1916
(8) 51.00 ft on 04/20/2008
(9) 50.23 ft on 01/15/2016
(10) 50.20 ft on 04/16/1897

Show More Historic Crests

(P): Preliminary values subject to further review.

Recent Crests
(1) 49.90 ft on 03/16/2018
(2) 48.50 ft on 05/25/2017
(3) 36.44 ft on 05/22/2016
(4) 43.32 ft on 03/18/2016
(5) 50.23 ft on 01/15/2016
(6) 37.32 ft on 12/14/2015
(7) 45.96 ft on 07/26/2015
(8) 37.84 ft on 06/08/2015
(9) 42.98 ft on 04/01/2015
(10) 38.40 ft on 04/20/2014

Show More Recent Crests

Low Water Records
(1) -7.00 ft on 02/03/1940
(2) -6.80 ft on 11/01/1939
(3) -5.80 ft on 01/06/1964

Thursday, June 14, 2018

High Water: Vicksburg's March 2018 Crest

Just before the crest, March 12, 2018, Ford Road, Vicksburg, Mississippi
The high water of 2018 in Vicksburg was on March 16 at a level of 49.9 ft on the Vicksburg gauge (which is located at the old Mississippi River bridge, the one that carries US 80). What does 49.9 ft mean? As a comparison, the table below from the National Weather Service lists other high water crests:

Historic Crests
(1) 57.10 ft on 05/19/2011
(2) 56.20 ft on 05/04/1927
(3) 53.20 ft on 02/21/1937
(4) 52.80 ft on 06/06/1929
(5) 52.50 ft on 04/28/1922
(6) 51.60 ft on 05/13/1973
(7) 51.50 ft on 02/15/1916
(8) 51.00 ft on 04/20/2008
(9) 50.23 ft on 01/15/2016
(10) 50.20 ft on 04/16/1897

Low Water Records
(1) -7.00 ft on 02/03/1940
(2) -6.80 ft on 11/01/1939
(3) -5.80 ft on 01/06/1964

As you can see, the water level of the Mississippi River as well as the Yazoo Canal and Port of Vicksburg can range about 50 ft or 15 m in many years. This poses a challenge to construction of docks and loading facilities. At Vicksburg, the definition of "flood" is when the water reaches 43.0 ft on the gauge. 
Flood Categories (in feet)
Major Flood Stage:50
Moderate Flood Stage:46
Flood Stage:43
Action Stage:35
The low-lying land north of the Anderson-Tully Worldwide on North Washington Street has always been vulnerable to flooding. The wood facility has its own protective levee, but the Ford and Kings Subdivisions just to the north begin to flood at about 44 ft.  
Ford Road, Vicksburg, March 12, 2018
Ford Road, Vicksburg, March 12, 2018
I do not know the history of these neighborhoods. They are clearly vulnerable at high water. Why were houses ever built here? Over the past decade or more, many houses have been purchased and torn down via a FEMA-funded program for vulnerable properties. I wrote about Marys Alley in 2010 and 2016 (click the links to see pictures of the lost cottages). Those houses looked to be 1920s or 1930s vintage, suggesting the area was developed a century ago, probably at a time when there were no flood zone restrictions.
View north from Haining Road, Vicksburg
During high water, it is fun to bike along Haining Road because the flooded fields and woods to the north host water birds and snakes.
Young Alley, March 16, 2018.
Young Alley is just off  Ford Road, literally behind the wood plant. The cottages are high enough to clear of the flood water at 49 ft elevation. You can see water in the driveway.
Railroad Alley, Vicksburg, March 12, 2018.
Railroad Alley, March 16, 2018.
Railroad Alley parallels the railroad tracks, just a short distance north of Ford Road. Parts of it flood at 49 ft. I have photographed the property with the horses before, at a time when the poor animals had less dry land within their yard. I recall asking a fellow about snakes, and he said horses were the best snake-squashers around.
The railroad tracks, which run north to the International Paper mill in Redwood, are on a raised embankment. The embankment serves as a levee. To the west of the tracks (left in the photograph), the the land floods. East of the tracks, or right, the houses are mostly safe. I am not sure if culverts and stream crossings are plugged before a high water event.

The tracks are operated by WATCO, a short-line operator. From their web page: "The Vicksburg Southern Railroad (VSOR) began operations January 8, 2006. Watco Companies acquired the railroad from the Kansas City Southern in November through a lease agreement and was formerly known as the Redwood Branch. The VSOR consists of 24 miles of track and interchanges with the KCS at Vicksburg, Mississippi."

All photographs are from Kodak Panatomic-X film, taken with a Hasselblad 501CM camera with 50mm, 80mm, and 250mm lenses, all tripod-mounted. I scanned the negatives with a Minolta Scan Multi medium format scanner controlled by Silverfast Ai software.

Thursday, May 31, 2018

Footloose around Vicksburg, Mississippi, with Kodak Ektar 25 Color Film

Dear readers, I had one last roll of the long-discontinued Kodak Ektar 25 color negative film in 120 size. I loaded it in the Hasselblad and wandered around Vicksburg. The Ektar is quite contrasty, so I prefer to use it when the light is overcast, or, best of all, foggy or rainy. Vicksburg offers plenty of topography and interesting architecture, so we will take a semi-random tour around town. (Click any photograph to enlarge it).
Clay Street, Vicksburg, view east, 250mm ƒ/5.6 Sonnar lens.
Let us start this short tour with Clay Street, a major east-west thoroughfare. This is the first view of Vicksburg that many tourists see when they exit I-20. A friend called this the ugliest street in America. That is a bit harsh, but much of it certainly qualifies as the typical ghastly American commercial strip with crummy fast food joints, steel buildings, car parts stores, and Dollar stores.
My friends at Warfield's Servicenter kindly let me take pictures. They have kept the family cars running for many years. Highly recommended.
Jackson Street, Vicksburg, view east, 250mm Sonnar lens.
Three blocks to the north is Jackson Street, which still retains its brick paving blocks. Many of the houses are a century old. The photograph shows how the street follows the hills and valleys of the local terrain.
Walnut Street is also in the oldest part of town. This is a 1992 photograph I found in my archives.
Veto Street runs from Monroe Street (behind me) west towards Mulberry Street. It is an odd curved road. Did a streetcar once run on it? This 1992 photograph shows the Warren County library in the distance. I took it from the roof of the former Vicksburg Hospital. The hospital was demolished two decades ago and the Vicksburg police station in now on this footpad.
Former "Colored Motel," US 80, east of Mount Albans Road, 50mm Distagon lens.
Before the interstate was built in the early 1970s, Highway US 80 was the main road between Vicksburg and Jackson. Just east of the intersection with Mount Albans road, a pink motel is almost covered with kudzu. In the early 1980s, you could still see a big sign stating "Colored Motel." Somewhere in my negatives I may have a photograph, but that is a project for another day.
East of town on Culkin Road is the former Culkin Academy. It has been empty for at least two decades. A worm farmer rented the premises for a few years.
In downtown Vicksburg, the neighborhood near the junction of Marcus Street and Halls Ferry Road is known as Marcus Bottom. Many of the cottages here have been demolished over the years.  This photograph is from the Halls Ferry Road bridge where it crosses Stouts Bayou.
These shotgun houses are on East Avenue. The slope in the foreground drops down into Stouts Bayou.
Grammar Street once had 10 or 12 of these little shotgun houses. Only two remain now. Even a decade ago, they were pretty nasty.
Union Avenue descends from Sherman Avenue south towards the Vicksburg Military Park. This is not the Union Avenue within the park, but possibly it once connected in the era when there were multiple park entrances. And this outside Union Avenue is a bit odd. The west side is City of Vicksburg, while the east side is Warren County. Residents on the west get their water from the City, while residents on the east get it from Culkin Water District. The old Chevrolet and the house with blue tarp roof in the photographs above are in Warren County.
I found a 2010 photograph of this same Bellaire. Since then it moved across the street to the Warren County side.
Ford Road, Vicksburg, March 16, 2018
Near the flood crest, March 16, 2018.
Young Alley (off Ford Road), March 16, 2018.
Finally, here are some scenes from the spring flood, when high water forced some of the residents in the Ford subdivision to evacuate. The crest on the Vicksburg Gage was 49.90 ft on 03/16/2018 (from the National Weather Service). This area west of North Washington Street and just north of the Anderson Tully wood mill has always been vulnerable to flooding. Over the years, many houses have been bought via a FEMA program and demolished.

These photographs were taken on Kodak Ektar 25 film with a Hasselblad 501CM camera, with 50mm, 80mm, and 250mm Zeiss lenses. All pictures were tripod-mounted. The film was expired and the colors are off. My scanner software does not have a profile for Ektar 25, so I use the Ektar 100 one instead. Is it "accurate?" Who knows? Can you really remember how the scene looked weeks after you were on the site? If you want boring perfection and "accuracy," use digital.

This is no. 02d of my irregular series on Abandoned Films.