Great Flood of 1927   Term Paper ID:32936 Click to get this paper

Essay Subject: This paper examines the failure of flood control strategies in the flood of and ...... More...

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Paper Abstract: This paper examines the failure of flood control strategies in the flood of 1927 and the subsequent changes and improvement in strategies. Overflow of the Mississippi River. Paper Introduction: The Great Flood of When the winter of brought heavy rains the U S Army Corpsof Engineers was not perturbed They had built a system of levees intendedto contain any flood waters However flood waters were so heavy that theyoverflowed the banks of the Mississippi\'s tributaries in Oklahoma Kansas Illinois and Kentucky Torrential spring rains brought the situationto a critical pass but the Army Corps of Engineers assured the public thatthe levees the Corps had built would hold Meanwhile James Buchanan Eads Text of the Paper: The entire text of the paper is shown below. However, the text is somewhat scrambled. We want to give you as much information as we possibly can about our papers and essays, but we cannot give them away for free. In the text below you will find that while disordered, many of the phrases are essentially intact. From this text you will be able to get a solid sense of the writing style, the concepts addressed, and the sources used in the research paper. rivers (2). References 1. According to historian Stephen Ambrose, the Mississippi River has inmany places rejected the cutoffs built more than a half century ago and hasregained one-third of them (1). In the 193 's and 194 's, the Corps shortened the river by more than 15 miles by eliminating a series of sharp curves. The flood-control strategy used by the U.S. The "levees only" policywas replaced with the multifaceted structural approach that is still in usetoday. Society and Flood Management Strategy." Retrieved on April 14, 2 5, from http://gsa.confex.com/gsa/2 2AM/finalprogram/abstract_44272.htm 3. They had built a system of levees intendedto contain any flood waters. The Corps also built hugeconcrete-and-steel structures farther south to divert the Mississippi Riverto the Atchafalaya at a rate of 6 , cubic feet per second. Torrential spring rains brought the situationto a critical pass, but the Army Corps of Engineers assured the public thatthe levees the Corps had built would hold. The governor made the decisionknowing that to save New Orleans, he had to intentionally flood the poorercommunities downstream. After the 1927 flood, radical changes were made in flood controlstrategies, and the responsibility for disaster recovery efforts waselevated from the local to the national level. Looked like a missile fired by a submarine'"(1). However, man has not achieved perfect flood controlyet. Nor was another idea, to build reservoirs on thetributaries to hold back the water. The great flood "shattered levees fromIllinois to the Gulf of Mexico, inundating 27, square miles of land"(2(. Barry, John M. Then in1963, the Corps built a dam to seal off the natural flow between the rivers(1). In 1928, Congress instituted the Jadwin plan to build higher andthicker levees than before. "Man vs. However, flood waters were so heavy that theyoverflowed the banks of the Mississippi's tributaries in Oklahoma, Kansas,Illinois, and Kentucky (1). Levees have not been removed from the strategy, but their use hasbeen augmented with "meander cutoffs, flood outlets, upstream reservoirs,and other measures" (1). This event left a lasting imprint on American politics, society, and on management strategies for the Mississippi and other U.S. Ambrose, Stephen. The Great Flood of 1927 When the winter of 1926-1927 brought heavy rains, the U.S. The end result of all the strategies has been much better floodcontrol than before. Addison, Jim. Sadly, though,"no cut-offs were dug. The City of New Orleans was only spared because its governor made ajudicious decision to dynamite the Caernarvon levee below New Orleans,creating an artificial crevasse that relieved the floodwaters. Nature: The Great Mississippi Flood of 1927." Retrieved on April 14, 2 5, from http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2 1/ 5/ 5 1_river4.html 2. Army Corps of Engineersprior to the great flood had always been based solely on levees. When the flood finally hit, the devastation was massive. "The effortnot only saved the city of New Orleans, it also blew away the 'levee only'flood control policy of the Mississippi River Commission" (3).Unfortunately, this relief came at a cost. Secondarychannels and outlets were sealed, and huge embankments separated the riverchannel from its floodplain. The Corps ofEngineers--and then the residents of the Valley--relied on levees only"(1). The fight between man and nature is notover, and a continuing watchful stance with ever-evolving flood controlstrategies is essential. Army Corpsof Engineers was not perturbed. "The Great Flood of 1927." Retrieved on April 14, 2 5, from http://www.mvn.usace.army.mil/pao/bcarre/flood1927.htm On Good Friday, the rains were so heavy that in New Orleans in 18hours there were 15 inches of rain, and for the inhabitants watching thewater swell at an alarming rate was "like facing an angry, dark ocean" (1). Meanwhile, James Buchanan Eads, the engineer who built the firstrailroad bridge over the Mississippi, proposed cut-offs to straighten thecourse of the river and speed it up. Reservoirs were built on the tributaries, andthe cutoffs Eads had proposed were created, lowering flood heights 15 feet. Eads urged that the floods could bepermanently lowered, and levees would not even be needed. Nor were any outlets dug. The 1927 flood struck the lower Mississippi River, displacing at least 7 , and shattering the notion that river engineering had eliminated the threat of flooding from the Lower Mississippi Valley. He had done just this at South Pasr,at the mouth nf the river, and the correction had lowered the bed so theriver would carry more water faster. "One man recalled, decades later, 'I saw a whole tree just disappear,sucked under by the current, then saw it shoot up, it must have been ahundred yards [downstream]. "The 1927 Mississippi River Flood and Its Impact on U.s. If this paper is not what you are looking for, you can search again: Search for: or Click here to request an essay written just for you.

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