Cairo, Il Flood and the Birds Point Levee blast

Cairo, Il Flood and the Birds Point Levee blast

One my way to and from Missouri this winter I passed through Cairo, IL. I found it an interesting little town. Actually, it seemed more of a ghost town.

There are huge ornate buildings that look as if the city was once prosperous and thriving. The fact that is sits at the intersection of two major US rivers, the Ohio and the Mississippi.

I did a bit of research and found that the town was expected to surpass Chicago in size and importance. It once had as many as 30,000 citizens and now has less than 2,000.

Normally on my route to Missouri, I only pass near Cairo and not through it. However on my most recent trip the bridge across the Mississippi River was closed. I found it interesting that there were no early warning signs, Just barricades at the entrance to the bridge. The UPS truck in front of me was caught off guard as well. We both used the abandoned state park to turn around and search our maps for alternate routes.

The flood wall in Cairo has a huge gate over highway 3. I found it a bit creepy to drive through with the kudzu vines hanging down over the road and the huge gate looming overhead.

I had not thought much about Cairo until I saw on the news that thousands of acres of Missouri farmland were to be flooded to save Cairo. At first, I was like many who wondered if Cairo was worth saving. However there are some very interesting looking historic buildings there. But as I thought more and looked at the map, the levee at Cairo not only protects the little ghost town but many small towns and communities in the area.

Also, I learned that the Birds Point Levee was designed as a fuse in the flood protections system. There is a second levee one mile behind it that protects the actually populated area. The area between the levees is the New Madrid flood way. It is designed to carry excess water during times of epic floods like his one. The Birds Point levee was built with holes in it so that it could be easily blown up to open the flood gate.

The fact that farmers have been allowed to use the area during times of no flood has made it seem inconvenient to blow the levee. However, that was the design all along. The farmers knew the risk and most have put only portable and easily movable supplies there. However since it has been a very long time since the floodway was used, some have become complacent.

The Corps of Engineers has decided that blowing the Birds Point Levee was the best way to protect not just Cairo, but the entire levee flood control system. Nature is a powerful force when it goes to reclaim its own from our developments. I think we tend to forget that between the so called natural disasters.