Wanted: Ark

[Jim Jensen]

I don't live in that part of the country - but I've always wondered if building those big dikes just make the floods on the other side or downstream worse?

In short, yes. That's why today there are so many restrictions on building in flood zones. I'd say the biggest reason they are there is because there was so much building without control before that they get built in order to protect what's already there. You can end up with a "jonesing" effect - because your levee makes my area more susceptible to flood, I'll build a bigger one and so on down the waterway. The decision to breach the levee in Missouri near the confluence of OH & MS rivers caused a quick appeal to the US Supremes, fighting over whether the Engineers had the authority to flood the MO area to protect Cairo and other areas. Those in the area to be intentionally flooded aren't too happy, but it's a measurement of where it will cause the least amount of damage. Either way someone's getting flooded, let's decide where the total damage is minimized.

The area I saw flooded from the Wabash actually is causing little damage as the Gov't paid $$ to change it back from crop fields to trees and grasses. Very little to damage now. There were a small number of houses left, but not many. FEMA finally paid off in the long run there - pay them more once instead of paying time after time. That's happening here in some towns too - FEMA & local officials buying out houses that flooded and they cannot be redeveloped, even it fill dirt is added. They must remain as parks or other unused property so FEMA doesn't pay again in the future.