flooding

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Residents Flee Spillway Waters
 Residents Flee Spillway Waters 
May 15, 2011 4:44 PM CDT

Residents Flee Spillway Waters

Many have cleared out ahead of expected Louisiana floods

(Newser) - Butte LaRose is “like a ghost town” after yesterday’s opening of the Morganza spillway , says one resident. People started clearing out their belongings last week and most were gone by today, when the water was expected. A sign outside town warns that animals, too, are likely fleeing for...

Louisiana Floodgates Open for 1st Time in 38 Years

Move diverts water from the inflated Mississippi

(Newser) - Water from the inflated Mississippi River gushed through a floodgate today for the first time in nearly four decades and headed toward thousands of homes and farmland in the Cajun countryside, threatening to slowly submerge the land under water up to 25 feet deep. As the gate was raised, the...

Louisiana's Awful Choice: Flood Cities or Drown Farms?

One option could devastate New Orleans; the other would destroy farmland

(Newser) - In Louisiana, a terrible choice: Frantically sandbag the levees in an attempt to prevent a flood in New Orleans and Baton Rouge that could be greater than Katrina in some areas—or open a relief valve and purposely flood 200 miles of farmland, potentially destroying the livelihoods of many Louisiana...

Floodwaters Devastate Mississippi Delta

Rising river wipes small town off map

(Newser) - The rising Mississippi River has heaped more misery on one of the poorest regions in America. Hundreds of people have been forced from their homes in the Mississippi Delta as the floodwaters approach record levels, washing out farms and roads, the AP reports. All 300 homes in Tunica Cutoff, an...

Mississippi Expected to Crest Tonight in Memphis

River will likely reach near-record of 48 feet

(Newser) - The Mississippi River could crest as soon as 7pm tonight in Memphis, an earlier forecast than previous predictions . Even so, Mayor AC Wharton tells CBS News , "we're ready for it." Door-to-door warnings alerted residents to evacuate over the weekend, and patrols have been stepped up to prevent...

Mississippi Continues Steady Rise

More evacuate rising waters in Memphis

(Newser) - More Memphis residents were being told today to flee their homes for higher ground as the Mississippi's crest edged toward the city, threatening to bring more flooding to parts of an area already soaked. Officials were going door-to-door, warning about 240 people to get out before the river reaches...

Mississippi Keeps Rising in Memphis

Evacuees get out ahead of river flooding

(Newser) - It's colorful, but still not the quote you want to hear from your local public affairs officer: "The mighty Mississippi is starting to wrap its arms around us here in Memphis." About 3,000 properties are threatened by the rising river, and authorities were going from house...

Memphis Residents Warned to Flee Rising Mississippi

Coast Guard closes section of river to barge traffic

(Newser) - The Coast Guard closed a stretch of the swollen Mississippi to barge traffic today in a move that could cause a backup along the mighty river, while authorities farther south in Memphis went door to door, warning about a 1,000 households to leave before they get swamped. Emergency workers...

Disaster Slowly Flowing Down the Mississippi River

Disaster areas declared as Big Muddy reaches record levels

(Newser) - A slow-moving disaster is making its way down the Mississippi River. Authorities fear that floodwaters will exceed records set during the Great Mississippi Flood of 1927, one of the greatest natural disasters in American history. Tributaries that flow into the Mississippi are already backing up, and disaster areas have been...

Corps Blasts Through Missouri Levee

US Supreme Court rejects Missouri's request to halt operation

(Newser) - The Army Corps of Engineers lit up the Missouri skyline last night, blowing a two-mile gap in a levee, and activating a 1920s flood plan that has not been used since 1937. The explosions along the levee near drenched Cairo caused water to gush over prime farmland, the Wall Street ...

Missouri Sues to Prevent Demolition of Levee

It wants the Army Corps of Engineers to consider other options

(Newser) - The Midwest is keeping a nervous eye on its levees—and now on the courts as well. Missouri's attorney general today filed suit in federal court to prevent the Army Corps of Engineers from blowing up a levee on the Mississippi River, reports Reuters . The corps is preparing to...

River Overflows Missouri Levee; Collapse Feared

Severe storms won't let up in soaked Ohio, Miss. River valleys

(Newser) - Thousands of southeastern Missouri residents watched helplessly today as Black River water crept toward their homes after overflowing the levee protecting their town, as officials predicted a "catastrophic failure." Several homes in and around Poplar Bluff were partially submerged, while water filled the front yards of other houses....

Half of US at Flood Risk
 Half of US at Flood Risk 
Mar 18, 2011 5:46 AM CDT

Half of US at Flood Risk

National Weather Service warns record spring floods could be on the way

(Newser) - As the mammoth winter snowfall melts across much of the US, expect the struggle against Mother Nature to continue: Spring flooding is already happening in parts of the country and almost half the US has an above-average risk of floods over the next few weeks, the National Weather Service warns...

Ohio Braces for Flooding
 Ohio Braces for Flooding  
Mar 1, 2011 4:27 AM CST

Ohio Braces for Flooding

Storms, tornadoes shake Midwest

(Newser) - Towns throughout Ohio and parts of the Midwest braced for more flooding Tuesday, a day after storms and tornadoes damaged buildings and homes in Indiana, Illinois and Kentucky. Three tornadoes touched down in Indiana on Monday. A tornado destroyed three homes in Kentucky's Henry County, northeast of Louisville, and six...

Poor Midwest: When Snow Melts, Brace for Floods

Forecasters see bad things ahead in the spring

(Newser) - The Midwest, pummeled by snow this winter, is expected to get a nasty follow-up in the spring: major flooding. Again. Weather experts say the winter has left a "thick snowpack in much of the upper Midwest," leading them to expect serious flooding when it melts, reports USA Today...

Extreme Rains Linked to Global Warming

Two studies tie weather disasters to pollution effects

(Newser) - We may have no one but ourselves—in part—to blame for the heavy rains and floods that have been plaguing everywhere from Nashville to Australia in recent years. Prior studies discovered that the likelihood of experiencing severe precipitation on a given day jumped 7% over the years 1951 to...

South Africa Floods Kill 39
South Africa Floods Kill 39
Jan 17, 2011 9:25 AM CST

South Africa Floods Kill 39

Thousands of homes in neighboring Mozambique decimated

(Newser) - Floods in South Africa have left 39 dead or missing after downpours this weekend followed heavy rains that began last month. The army is on standby to lead evacuations and “all disaster management structures in the country have been put on high alert,” authorities said. Farming officials expressed...

With Break in Rain, Brazil Airlifts Aid to Mudslide Victims

But survivors largely left to own devices

(Newser) - A break in near-constant rain today allowed Brazilian rescue helicopters to deliver desperately needed food and water to neighborhoods buried under tons of earth in mudslides that have killed more than 600. Rain clouds lifted, allowing about a dozen helicopters to buzz around the craggy peaks of the emerald-green mountains...

More Than 500 Dead in Brazil Landslides, Floods

And the rain that caused them hasn't stopped

(Newser) - Torrential rains continued to pour down on Brazil’s Serrana region today, fueling floods and mudslides that have now killed at least 529 people—a total that’s expected to rise, as rescuers continue to uncover new bodies. “The rain did not stop at dawn and is continuing in...

Heavy Rains Kill Hundreds in Brazil
Heavy Rains Kill
Hundreds in Brazil
Jan 13, 2011 1:21 AM CST

Heavy Rains Kill Hundreds in Brazil

270 die as landslides hit Rio de Janeiro state

(Newser) - Floods and landslides triggered by heavy rains have killed at least 270 people in southern Brazil, and the death toll is expected to rise significantly. Many families were buried as they slept in their mountain town homes near Rio de Janeiro after hillsides collapsed, Reuters reports. "There was no...

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