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999
<br /> WHEN ,
<br /> RFA
<br /> RECE-11"n
<br /> HAZA D HuuSE COPY J,xmiis DIANING JUN 1 � 1997
<br /> Girtslon of Minerals&ueutugy _
<br /> "lire floods that drVaslated Life ,Uississippi and illissonri iit'rr ,','allre.; iu 1993 have
<br /> t^Ielo pestioiis: Is oarapproac% to flood control e-oryrct?:lnd obrtr do avr ,-oJiolw hivr?
<br /> The cost of the damages incurred by the floods along Life Mis- 60%of those nine stairs. tuclling 1u'.t,of the and area of it],-it],- d5
<br /> sissippi and Missouri rivers last spring quickly rise into the contiguous stales.wcl e dccl.uod Irdcral disaster art IS.
<br /> surreal realm of"about $10 billion," but real those d:unages. Most agree that the flout: w,I, the %lorst the area had S,t U
<br /> are,and it will take real money and work to repair them.As the this century,possibly even bigger IhRil thr [load of I M4. wluch
<br /> cleanup continues, so does a dispute over the nation's ap- is estimated to be the biggest au tumid. The label Irrgm]ILI%
<br /> proach to floodplain hazards and whether damages on this applied—that this was :I full cvar Ruud or a 500-yc.0 flood—in-
<br /> scale can be prevented by better niamigenient of thr [luodplain dicates [lie flood zrverily but do1 . nut unply drat it «ill br .I
<br /> and of the risks to its residents. century or more bclore a flood sat ,Ivor happtvs ;LgZ011. It
<br /> lWhat the phrase"better floodplain management"entails is a merely means that there is uue than:r in 100 of 500 Thai such
<br /> burning issue both along the river and in Washington. U.C., a flood will occur in any givcu %cal.
<br /> but there are three questions that any policy must address: CUITenLly, the U.S Arnie Cures of Fnginecrs and Ihr II.S.
<br /> Why were the floods as bad as they were?Are they like Iy to re- l Department ai:lbaiculuvt-, S,a Cun,rrv;uwn Srrvict� (x>) .vc
<br /> cur?Could any system have prevented the damage? working to repair die levers beiun- 1111:.J) ng's M111. IIII'C nip.
<br /> Seasonal flooding is net uncommon oil the upper Iv9ississip- is inspecting and repaving till' "9 It-del al levees it drslgncd and
<br /> pi, and the spring of 1993 began as spring in the Al idwem usu- built, 109 of which w•cry danulgrd or uvcrtupped. It is also li\iug
<br /> ally does, with rains and melting snow. But with the ground some 160 vital agi cultlu.d It WV IIIAI cocci Col ps rcquil Coicnl
<br /> l still soaked from the previous autumn's rains, the ucw uloiS-
<br /> Lure became runoff that swelled the rivers :cod caul>ed minor 'a't'' a �'t�• •;' iF^s'B�n ' ''':c 'Q.rt-.
<br /> flooding.'1his was not unusual. but what happened num was.
<br /> Starting fit April 1993, the region experienced almost four - ., r J L -�
<br /> solid mantas of rain as a persistent pressure system baL off the
<br /> Southeastern U.S., pulling act air up Irum the Gull Of Mexico,
<br /> land cold air from a Iulver-than-normal-latitude JUL 111-cam T6• .+..�-:.5-. ,
<br /> turned that moisture into record-bi, i:ing In ecipination over '•tiMh�` `F ;.l.r:-:" ' '
<br /> Illinois. Iowa, ICtiisas, Aliuuesuta, I\lis>uuri, Ncbraa.a, North
<br /> Dakota, South Dakota and Wiscunsiil. .Ircurding lit 61;ok Lelr
<br /> ore of the National Weather Service. %
<br /> The result: almost 1,000 nli uI the Mississippi awl (Missouri f
<br /> riven rose beyond their normal Ruud levels, deluging 16,000 - '•4 , �;
<br /> s'q mi of land. Nearly 500 0l the rcgian's 1,300 lovers were .j^ - � y�,t �yr•t4i+ .
<br /> overtopped or damaged acid 50 people died.
<br /> The flood ravaged both residential :old cunnuorcial build- FE -
<br /> lugs, w:uhed out roadw:rys and bridges, disnJptcd w:ucr sup-
<br /> plies and sewer systems,will carried raw sewage and industrial
<br /> wastes into the river. Crop losses LOl:led nwre dTan $" billion, -
<br /> I and miles of farmland were severely dam,ged. In Missouri
<br /> alone, 450,000 acres o1 soil were covered with Saud up to S it
<br /> deep. According to Lally Zensinger, chief of intemgcucy plan.. .
<br /> ning for the Federal Emergency Management Agency (I—EMA)'
<br /> THE MISSOURI WASHES OVER INTERSTATE 54,IN THE CEDAR CITY SECTION OF
<br /> JEFFERSON CITY,MO. ON THE SOUTH SIDE OF THE RIVER,MOST OF DOWN.
<br /> TOWN JEFFERSON CITY SITS ON A BLUFF, ESCAPING SERIOUS DAMAGE DE.-
<br /> SPITE WATERS THAT ROSE 25 FT ABOVE FLOOD STAGE.PHOTO BY JONAS JOR- �6
<br /> DAN_U.S_ARMY CORPS O/FF ENGINEERS,
<br /> ,SSAVANNAH(GA.)DISTRICT. _ Ci t,y Of Boulder
<br /> WA7/ARD fill( i.lr Ck iJ i`/ Je — Exhibit M
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