Stephen N. Limbaugh Jr. [appointed by Bush in 2008 and related to Rush Limbaugh] Ok the blowup

[midnight]

levee. U.S. District Judge ruled that the Corps had the right to breach the levee to prevent flooding in Cairo, Illinois, as permitted by a 1928 law.

The levee breach could flood 130,000 acres of Missouri farmland, which contains about 90 homes. Missouri had filed suit to prevent the Corps from carrying out its plan.

Limbaugh wrote that he found that the Corps is committed to implementing the plan only as essential to provide protection to all citizens. He wrote “this Court finds that no aspect of the Corps’ response to these historic floods suggests arbitrary or capricious decision-making is occurring.”

Before this decision was made, I felt it was too risky to do... That whole area sits on a very sensitive vault line... Now that I know who approved it, I feel even more uneasy about the judgement....http://foodfreedom.wordpress.com/2011/05/01/army-engineers-to-flood-130000-acres-of-missouri-farmland-to-save-illinois-town/

[KharmaTrain]

1. So Should A Town Flood Instead?

Cairo is a small struggling town and a flood in their downtown would devestate the local economy. Yes, it's an economic choice...either piss off the farmers who will lose a growing season or a business district that represents the center of economic commerce for the area.

[midnight]

4. I have family in Carbindale...So no, I would not like to see any town flood..

Those engineers have other tools in their tool belt that would allow them to remove parts of the levee.. However the greatest concern are the plate tectonics and the keeping them stable. They need to be more scientific about this process...

[madrchsod]

7. shawneetown was moved to higher ground in 37

there`s no reason why cairo shouldn`t be moved to higher ground.

[KharmaTrain]

9. Not So Easy To Move...

Shawneetown moved about 3 miles inland...still in Illinois, Cairo doesn't have any real room and even less money. That region is one of the poorest in the state and the country...its cheaper to flood Missouri. For its precarious location, Cairo doesn't flood that often...this is the worst flooding since 1937. It's not as bad off as Kaskaskia...Illinois' first Capital that ended up on the west side of the river.

I can see no winners in this thing and hope the river crests this weekend...

[madrchsod]

10. thanks.. been to shawneetown but not cairo.

[foxtrot]

2. At least one member of that family is doing the right thing

not all decisions are easy, I'm sure this was no exception.

[Suich]

8. Welcome to DU, foxtrot!

:party: :party: :party:

[tularetom]

3. Most interesting that he would rule in favor of "big gubmint"

in a dispute with hard workin farmers.

Will he catch a ration of shit from lard ass limbaugh for doing so? My guess is probably not.

There are designated overflow spillage areas on many river systems in the US. Obviously it's prefereable to flood acres of farmland rather than high value urban developed land.

And it isn't like there is no compensation to those who suffer crop losses. We lost $5,000 worth of walnuts due to levee failure in the CA El Nino floods in the 90's and got most of that back from FEMA.

The guy who ran the Sacramento District of the USACOE then was Colonel (now General) Walsh who has a lot of experience dealing with these issues. Believe me he made the right decision, even if saying so means I agree with Judge Limpballs.

[midnight]

5. Fema is going to help these people like they did Nola?

[tularetom]

6. It's a different FEMA than it was when heckuva job Brownie was in charge

It's more like the agency we dealt with during the Clinton years. Riddled with inefficiency, but still attempting to move in the right direction.

Under bush, the people in charge just didn't give a shit and that attitude permeated the field staff. Fortunately the weather gods cooperated and we didn't have to interact with FEMA during the bush debacle.