The Day the Water Crested in the 2011 Mississippi River Flood: North Vicksburg

Map of road closures and inundations. From The Mississippi River Flood of 2011, A Publication of The Vicksburg Post (© 211 Vicksburg Post)

The Mississippi river crested on Thursday, May 19, 2011 at 57.1 ft. on the Vicksburg gage, 1.1 ft. higher than the crest during the great 1927 flood. If the levees had held, the 1927 crest would have been higher, but as measured, the level was 56.0 ft at Vicksburg. In this year's flood, the Kings neighborhood in north Vicksburg was one of the wettest areas of town. In a few places, the water was right at the base of North Washington Street. In previous floods, like the one in 2008 (crest 50.9 ft.), water remained west of the railroad tracks, which served as a form of levee.

Some good news: The Waltersville Estates, operated by Vicksburg Housing Authority, just missed getting water in the ground floor units. I think no one needed to be evacuated.

Further north, conditions were much messier. This church and house are near the intersection of Hutson and North Washington Streets.

Look west along Hutson Street, and all you see is water.

In all, more than 2000 people were displaced in Vicksburg, according to the Vicksburg Post. I think most were from this low-lying area north of Vicksburg. The water is predicted to remain at this level for at least three days and slowly - very slowly - start to recede. Public Radio has already started warning people to wear protective clothing when they enter flooded homes, and the county is offering free tetanus inoculations. Rangers are on duty to help remove snakes and alligators.

Update June 19, 2011. According to the Vicksburg Post (from county and Federal sources):

• Evacuations from Vicksburg and Warren County: 3,202
• Structures evacuated county-wide: 1,340
• Homes inside Vicksburg flooded: 185-200
• Acres flooded in Warren County: 150,165
• River flow during week leading up to crest: 2.15 million cu ft/sec (highest ever recorded)

(Photographs taken with an Olympus E-330 digital camera.)

Close to the Crest, the Waterfront at Vicksburg, Mississippi

By Monday, May 16, the water had risen about 1.5 ft above the Friday level. It was 56.66 ft at 15:00, above the 1927 record. At the historic 1907 depot, water reached the ground floor windows. A week ago, someone bolted plywood panels in front of the doors and windows, but they had not been sealed with any caulk or gaskets, so it was an effort too late and too rushed.

Further north, water covered the entire dirt field north of the M/V Mississippi (compare with the photograph in the previous entry). I saw a snowy egret walking around looking for yummy worms and bugs, so at least some wildlife has been able to adapt. Tourists have adapted, too: I have never seen so many visitors downtown.

Here is some information on the Vicksburg Gage from the Corps of Engineers RiverGages.com:

Mississippi River at Vicksburg, MS
Stream Name: Mississippi River
Gage Zero: 46.23 Ft. NGVD29
Flood Elevation: 43.0 Ft.
Record High Elevation: 56.0 Ft.
Longitude: -90.90233200 Latitude: 32.31183200
River Mile: 435.7
Record High Elevation Date: 05/04/1927

Location of Gage: 1.6 miles downstream of the mouth of the Yazoo Diversion canal. Vicksburg Quandrangle.

Note that the level of 56 ft was as measured. If the levees had not failed at various locations along the basin, particularly at Greenville, the 1927 level would have been several feet higher. I believe the Vicksburg concrete floodwall was built to this higher stage. In effect, there is a considerable factor of safety built in to the Vicksburg walls.



This is the view of the waterfront south of the Depot on May 3, 1927, showing the old, lower floodwalls. The photograph is from the collection of the Mississippi Department of Archives and History, and is labeled:

1927 Flood Photograph Collection
"Vicksburg, Miss. 5-3-27." Flooded street and railroad tracks. Pedestrians and steamship in background.

North Washington Street Inundation in the 2011 Mississippi River Flood

By Friday, May 13, the level of the Yazoo Canal was high enough to be creeping across a low spot on North Washington Street, and the police had to block it off. This is the view north at the junction of First East and Washington Streets. Morning elevation: 55.5 ft (based on the Vicksburg gage).

(Postscript May 19, 2011: A 69-year-old Vicksburg man drowned here. City workers found the body near the flooded intersection.)

This is the view looking southwest towards the casino (May 13). The boat on the left up on a concrete platform is the MV Mississippi, the former Corps of Engineers inspection and work boat. It will become the centerpiece of the Mississippi River interpretative center. I have old photographs of railroad tracks running into this lot, but they had not been used for at least three decades. Also, years ago, a coal company was located here.

Once again, let me remind readers of the excellent historical flood photographs on the Mississippi Department of Archives and History's web page:
http://mdah.state.ms.us/arrec/digital_archives/1927flood/

As the Water Rises (2011 Mississippi River Flood): the Yazoo Canal in Vicksburg

South of the Vicksburg waterfront and landing (seen in the previous blog entry), the concrete floodwall continues south about one mile past a Bunge Corp. grain facility and the Kansas City Southern railroad yard. This is usually a bustling place with hundreds of rail cars on the tracks, locomotives being rebuilt or fueled, and workers moving about. On Thursday, May 12, the rail yard was deserted, absolutely quiet. I was astonished. The railroad moved all their rolling stock out in case the worst happens and the levees or floodgates fail. Proceed further south and the concrete floodwall ends past the now-deserted Vicksburg Compress (topic of a future article). It becomes an earthen levee at a refinery, makes a turn, and ends at the railroad tracks. The two photographs above are looking southwest towards the Mississippi River. Dorsey Street is somewhere in the water. I saw a lot of bubbles and splashing in the water. Two dogs looked like they were catfish fishing. You can drive south along a gravel road that parallels the tracks, you soon reach the Ergon Marine & Industrial Supply Dock. Diamond Jacks Casino, just to the south, closed, but Ergon built a temporary levee to keep the water out. It consists of some sort of sand-filled cribs with plastic sheeting and thousands of sand bags to secure the sheeting. What a job it will be to remove all this material later this summer. In Friday's Vicksburg Post, a guard at the Diamond Jacks parking lot said he saw boars (you know, big nasty hairy pigs) coming out of the water. Vicksburg police evacuated the city front park. (Poscript May 20, 2011: The levee around the Ergon dock failed and the area on the right side of the photograph above filled up with water.)

Stop Log Flood Gates in Vicksburg

Friends and coworkers have expressed interest in the temporary flood gates that the City of Vicksburg workers install to hold back the water. The concrete floodwall lines the Yazoo Canal along the Vicksburg waterfront. It runs from near the mouth of the canal (where it enters the Mississippi River) northward to Grove Street, then turns east and ends as Grove Street runs uphill.

There are several gaps in the floodwall to allow access to the river. The widest gap is where Levee Street runs north-south at the Grove Street junction. The railroad tracks also run through here. To block this opening, the city workers have to cut the tracks, dig up part of the pavement, and install steel I-beams. They have to dig up the street each time they anticipate a flood high enough to need the temporary barriers. It's a bit clumsy because afterwards, they have to repave the street. I expect they fill the hole with dirt and just add a thin layer of asphalt. Wood beams (stop logs) are placed in the I-beams and sealed with tar and oakum. In this photograph, you can see the 1907 railroad depot on the wet side of the barrier and can see a section of railroad track that was removed.


The temporary barrier is simple and effective against low flood levels. I have seen it hold back a half meter of water. This will be the test to see how it works with 2 m! Some water seeps through and pumps move the runoff back over the concrete wall some distance to the south (near the casino).


This last photograph shows Grove Street. Most of Vicksburg is on the bluffs and therefore safe from flooding. Compared to the early 1900s, when the entire Vicksburg waterfront was lined with shops, foundries, ship chandlers, and manufacturing plants, there is less at risk now if the waterfront were to be inundated.

Before the Crest: the Great Mississippi River Flood of 2011 in Vicksburg

The water is rising and, as of May 10, 2011, has exceeded all historical river elevations in Vicksburg. Fortunately, unlike a tsunami situation, there has been plenty of warning about the approach of the flood crest and industries and the City of Vicksburg have been preparing.

The Anderson Tully wood products company was inundated in the 1973 flood. A retired worker told me that it took five years to dry out the timber. To prevent future flooding, the company built a levee around the mill after 1973. But for the last week, a fleet of trucks has been delivering dirt and clay, and the levee is being extensively raised. The photograph above was Sunday, May 8, 2011.

Redwood Elementary School, in Redwood, north of Vicksburg, was vulnerable to water backing up a creek that runs behind the school. To protect it, the school department hired a contractor to build a levee. This was a significant berm, over 2 m high for much of its extent. 

The students evacuated the school and will finish the year at another facility. They piled books and materials in the auditorium (Friday, May 6).

Most of Vicksburg was built on the loess bluffs, high above the river. The city waterfront, where steamboats unloaded and warehouses were located, historically flooded. To protect the waterfront, the Corps of Engineers built concrete flood walls early in the 20th century and greatly expanded them after the 1927 flood, which overtopped the earlier walls. But roads and railroads need to pass through the wall in several locations. These gaps in the walls are plugged with wood timbers held in place by steel I-beams. The city workers have to dig down into the pavement to find the anchor points for the I-beams. The timbers are sealed with oakum and tar and chained down (Friday, May 6). Later, the city workers found that plastic sheeting was more effective at preventing seepage.

I have never before seen the timber walls installed to their full height, flush with the concrete walls. The timbers have never been tested to hold back three meters of water. The gate above is at Levee Street near the old railroad depot. Sadly, the depot, which is being renovated to become part of the river museum, is on the unprotected side of the flood wall. 

The Ford subdivision off North Washington Street has been prone to flooding for decades. Over the last five years, the City has bought many of the low houses (the ones built on slabs) and demolished them, but there are still many residents who have to evacuate. The views above are from Railroad Alley, taken Friday, May 6.

The car, which is rapidly losing its patch of pavement, is on Eva Street (Friday, May 6). 

This is Ford Street, looking towards the west (Friday, May 6). In previous inundations, residents told me that cleanup was always a messy business, and they had to call the rangers to take away snakes and alligators.

Across the river in Delta, Louisiana, this is the view from the levee facing east towards the old Mississippi River bridge. Normally, the terrain in the foreground is dry. The bridge still carries Kansas Southern Railroad trains, but the automobile road is closed.

Please see the subsequent blog articles to read about the progress of the historic 2011 flood.

Mississippi River Floods - Background, 1927 and 1997

With the approach of record-breaking floods on the Mississippi in May of 2011, this blog is a reprint an issue of the Vicksburg Photopage newsletter from 1998, which gave some background to floods along the great waterway.

Introduction. “That Ol’ Man River, he just keeps rolling along...” (From Jerome Kern’s and Oscar Hammerstein’s 1927 Show Boat. The great American bass, Paul Robeson, recorded “Ol’ Man River” in 1928 and many times thereafter.) Ol’ Man River, is, of course, the mighty Mississippi, the father of waters. This grand waterway has always inspired awe and respect, and never more so than when it is in flood. When snow melt or unusual rainfall causes greater than normal inflow in a short time span, the waters rise, overtop the natural levees or banks, and spread out across the river valley. The greatest flood of record was in 1927, when 500 people were killed and half a million driven from their homes in the lower Mississippi Valley. The Mississippi Delta was particularly hard hit. In response to the tremendous economic damage and loss of life, Congress passed the Flood Control Act of 1928, directing the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to embark on the ambitious project of taming the great river by building levees that would maintain it in its banks, even during floods. For the most part, the Corps has been remarkably successful. However, part of the project remains incomplete, and occasionally, the rivers rise so high that the existing levees are unable to contain the immense flow of water.

Geologic note. “The Delta” refers to the flat, fertile river plain north of Vicksburg and south of Memphis, a fertile agricultural area. Historically, the Mississippi periodically flooded the flat river plain and deposited rich soil. The geologic delta of the Mississippi River is an immense accumulation of un-consolidated sediment that protrudes south into the Gulf of Mexico. Normally, when folks say “the Delta,” they are referring to the farming area in northern Mississippi.

Definitions. Originally, the term flood meant an overflowing of water over land that was usually dry. Now that the river is channelized, flood is defined as a water level above a set elevation. Because a river flows downhill, the flood elevation varies at different points along its course. For example, flood elevation at Memphis is different than flood in Vicksburg, and gage zero (the elevation where the measuring staff is defined as zero) is different as well. The US Army Corps of Engineers and the US Geological Survey record water levels at hundreds of stations throughout the nation.

Vicksburg gage 15145. This gage is located about 0.3 miles south of the I-20 bridge. Zero on the gage is 46.23 feet above the National Geodetic Vertical Datum (which is approximately sea level). Bank full, or flood stage, is 43.0 feet above gage zero. During some droughts, the water elevation drops below gage zero, but this does not mean that there is no water flow.

The graph above shows river elevations for 1973 (major flood), 1988 (drought) and 1997 (flood). During the 1988 drought, the water level was so low, long-lost sunken barges and steamboats emerged.

-->

Table 1. Mississippi River Elevations at Vicksburg
Event	Date	Elev.
Bank full		43.0
Record flood crest (estimated because levees failed)	1927	56.0
Record measured crest	Feb 21, 1937	53.24
Record low stage	Feb 3, 1940	-7.0
1973 flood crest	May 13, 1973	53.1
1993 high	May 18, 1993	43.6
1994 high	May 3, 1994	46.0
1995 high	June 12-13, 1995	47.0
1996 high	June 1-3, 1996	43.6
1997 flood crest	Mar 22-26, 1997	49.1
1998 high	May 14, 1998	43.5
Source: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Vicksburg District. Elevations in feet above gage zero.

In Table 1, you can see that the record low water was 7 feet below zero, while the crest of the 1927 flood was estimated to be 56.0 feet. This means the water level can vary as much as 63 feet, making it difficult to design wharfs and landings. In Vicksburg, the spring crest is typically at or above flood stage, but only when it is predicted to rise above 45 feet do the city workers prepare to close the flood gates.

The Flood of 1927. This was greatest natural disaster of the 20th century in this part of the world, destroying homes, inundating hundreds of square miles, displacing thousands, killing cattle and livestock, and bringing about vast social changes. Disaster relief was slow and haphazard. Blacks and rural poor whites were treated shabbily by the wealthy establishment. Barry (1997) speculates that populists like Huey Long in Louisiana gained political power as a direct result of the discontent that millions felt and their conviction that something in the social order needed to change.

Reference: Barry, John M. 1997. Rising Tide: the Great Mississippi Flood of 1927 and How it Changed America, Simon & Schuster, New York.

The following 1927 photographs were kindly loaned to me by a former coworker and life-long Vicksburg resident. Her father, Mr. Emil Menger, took these photographs. Mr. Menger and his brothers regularly walked about four miles from Clay Street to Long Lake to fish. 

 

Mr. Emil Menger at Long Lake (northwest of Vicksburg in the flood plain of the Yazoo River).

Mr. Menger’s boat at Long Lake, Mississippi, during the 1927 flood. The gun is still in the family’s collection.

Flooded road in Vicksburg, probably Hwy 61 North (North Washington Street).

From New Orleans District Corps of Engineers: "The Mississippi River has the third largest drainage basin in the world, exceeded in size only by the watersheds of the Amazon and Congo Rivers. It drains 41 percent of the 48 contiguous states of the United States. The basin covers more than 1,245,000 square miles, includes all or parts of 31 states and two Canadian provinces, and roughly resembles a funnel which has its spout at the Gulf of Mexico. Waters from as far east as New York and as far west as Montana contribute to flows in the lower river."

Mississippi River drainage area with Mississippi River & Tributaries Project area (in pink). From New Orleans District

This map shows the areas flooded in 1927. The map was prepared by the Commission headed by Herbert Hoover. Image courtesy NOAA Central Library and Mr. John Cloud.

The Mississippi Department of Archives and History has a fascinating collection of 1927 photographs on their web page. Highly recommended!

http://mdah.state.ms.us/arrec/digital_archives/1927flood/

For more information on the 2011 flood, please see some of my later blog articles.

The Mississippi Delta 3: Red Barn of Rolling Fork, Mississippi

For decades, drivers on Mississippi Hwy 61 drove past a long, handsome red barn south of Rolling Fork, Mississippi. Although long deserted, it stood as a well-known local landmark. On Friday, April 29, 2011, strong winds caused part of the south wall to buckle, pulling down a big piece of the roof. The two photographs below were taken in 2007, but even then, sections of the roof were broken.


According to the Vicksburg Post (1 May, 2011), the barn was built in 1918 by the Graft family. The Department of Defense bought the barn in 2009 or 2010 as part of a 33-acre land purchase. The project was to include an educational center focusing on wildlife and environment, to be called the Holt Collier Interpretative and Education Center. Sadly, the Corps of Engineers did not have authority to do any maintenance or repairs to the barn, and the ravages of rain and time have taken their toll. With recent suspension in non-defense discretionary funding, it is unlikely that any work will be done to restore the barn.

You can see some interior photographs of the wood roof in the Mississippi Preservation blog.

Something is Fishy at the Athens Central Market

This is the first of a series of articles featuring Greece. The Greeks have occupied their rocky, rugged peninsula for four millennia, and they know a bit about decay and rebirth. Athens is the modern capital, a bustling, frenetic city of over four million. The historic heart of Athens is the Acropolis hill, around which there has been human habitation since the Neolithic period. The commercial center of modern Athens is Omonia square, about a kilometer and a half to the north. Connecting the two is Athinas Street, along which you will find tool and hardware shops, banks, bakeries, coffee stalls, bargain clothing emporiums, and the famous Central Market. If you like visiting markets when you travel, this is a great example. It's in a decent part of town, the butchers and vendors are used to tourists, it's colorful and noisy, and it's not too smelly, even in summer. Thousands of tourists wander through, so although any American will stand out, the locals have seen much odder visitors. The market was built in the 1870s. According to a Smithsonian article, the mayor of Athens, Panagis Kyriakos, initiated the project in 1875. Construction continued for ten years, with the arched glass roof finally being completed in 1886. The roof you see in the photograph above is a new one. The market was renovated, painted, cleaned, and "sanitized" about a decade ago. In my files I have photographs of the older, scruffy-looking market, which I will try to scan. I am sure entry into the EU forced the administrators to make changes to comply with EU sanitary standards. This grand hall reminds me of similar 1800s arcades in other cities. In particular, one in Providence, Rhode Island, is said to be America's first enclosed mall. The overall market is in the shape of a large central rectangle with a "U"-shape area surrounding it. The fish vendors occupy the central rectangle, while the meat vendors occupy what was formerly the streets or alleys surrounding the 1870s market building. The streets have been roofed over, so that you think you are in one complicated enclosed building. You can buy almost any sort of seafood here (well, maybe not puffer fish), but all common Mediterranean species. Cod fish and herring come from the North Atlantic, and even a decade ago, I saw boxes labeled "Product of Iceland". Don't forget to pick up some octopus or a squid or two. For fans of Bizarre Foods, Andrew Zimmern visited the Central Market in 2010. This episode aired on May 10, 2011. There are several modest restaurants in the market. I suggest a light meal of grilled sardines, fried potatoes, horta (greens), and crusty, chewy, delicious bread (likely to be better than almost any bread you find in the USA). Wash it down with a beer or glass of retsina (or two or three glasses). Your fellow diners will be a friendly cast of characters. They will be glad to take your picture or pose. You can read more in the market in the Smithsonian article: http://www.smithsonianmag.com/travel/athens-200801.html