Environment & Energy

hatrack

(59,587 posts) Mon Jun 3, 2019, 08:50 AM Jun 2019

Levee Failure Dardanelle AR 5/31; Vicksburg At Or Above Flood Stage Since 2/17; #noplant

Historic flooding continues to saturate large stretches of land across the Midwest and Southeast United States. And with swollen rivers and reservoirs, more rain in the forecast, and an administration working to undo environmental protections, the impacts to communities, crops, infrastructure, and the economy are expected to be severe.

On Friday, just after midnight, a levee near Dardanelle, Arkansas, breached and, come morning, water from the Arkansas River was gushing through a 40-foot hole in the barrier, forcing some residents to evacuate.

Over the next week to 10 days, major or record flooding will hit every large community along the Arkansas River, the National Weather Service warned earlier this week. This flooding comes from past weeks of heavy rain which is testing the limits of aging levee infrastructure and putting crops at risk. And more heavy rain is on its way. At the same time, every county in Oklahoma is currently in a state of emergency. And flooding in at least eight states along the Mississippi River is now the longest-lasting since the Great Flood of 1927.

Link to tweet

EDIT

Link to tweet

In a testament to just how devastating the start to this season has been, the hashtag #NoPlant19 is trending on Twitter; farmers are sharing photos of flooded crop land and farm equipment stuck in mud.