Category Archives: gaia

Green Highways – Following up on yesterday’s post

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This is an excellent website for more info about green highways. I like their inclusion of the entire roadway’s impact on the surrounding environment. Though I wish they would include a discussion of  landscapes that require no mowing and the inclusion of indigenous plants.

http://www.greenhighwayspartnership.org/index.php

BACKGROUND

The Green Highways Partnership (GHP) is dedicated to transforming the relationship between the environment and transportation infrastructure.  In its nationwide review of green transportation infrastructure, the U.S. House Subcommittee on Technology and Innovation found the GHP to be “the primary federal vehicle for encouraging the use of green transportation infrastructure by state and local governments and private industry.”  Such a finding says that this effort is not only unique to the nation, but is the only one of its type serving this critical purpose recognized by Congress.

“All of the Federal Government’s greatest achievements in the last half century involved significant amounts of collaboration across sectors.”

Dr. John Bryson, U.MN-
On exercising government leadership through collaboration.

The Partnership
The GHP serves as a voluntary public-private collaborative that advances environmental stewardship in transportation planning, design, construction, operations and maintenance while balancing economic and social objectives. The Green Highways Partnership is supported by an ever growing list of dedicated and experienced partners. However, the partnership would like to recognize the following partners for their considerable financial and staff support:

Greenhighways Partnership EPA Logo Greenhighways Partnership Department of Transportation logo Greenhighways Partnership State Highway Administrator logo

The GHP was initiated by the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) out of a realization that building safe, sound transportation systems and protecting and sustaining a clean and healthy environment were not mutually exclusive, particularly in light of their common denominator, serving the “public good.”

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More tomorrow.

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China Syndrome In Japan – Rumors have circulated in Nuclear circles for months

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I hesitate to circulate this article. It is written by long time human rights and antinuclear activist Harvey Wasserman.  Its discussion of the Japanese situation seems a little over the top. The rumor that one or more of the reactor cores has totally escaped its reactor vessel and is melting through the containment pad has been circulating for at least a month. There is no way to observe this unless TEPCO has a little robot that we do not know about. Because I doubt that a human could get close enough. In addition there is no way to confirm that it is happening independently. Am I being cautious? Can you say, “wadzilla”?

Oh and according to the Peak Oil people where I found this article, they would say that Harvey is predicting Peak Uranium. Henry’s citation also implies that it was cowritten for Solartopia so I have included their website here as well.

http://www.solartopia.org/

It also would have been nice if he would have cited Gil Scott Heron for the “Almost Lost Detroit” reference since Gil recently passed on.

http://peakoil.com/enviroment/fukushima-spews-los-alamos-burns-vermont-rages-and-we%E2%80%99ve-almost-lost-nebraska/

Fukushima spews, Los Alamos burns, Vermont rages and we’ve almost lost Nebraska

Fukushima spews, Los Alamos burns, Vermont rages and we’ve almost lost Nebraska thumbnail

Humankind is now threatened by the simultaneous implosion, explosion, incineration, courtroom contempt and drowning of its most lethal industry. The nuclear one.

We know only two things for certain: worse nuclear disasters are yet to come, and those in charge are lying about it—at least to the extent of sharing what they actually know, which is nowhere near enough. Indeed, assurances from the nuclear power industry continue to flow like the flood waters now swamping the Missouri Valley heartland.

But major breakthroughs against nuclear power have come from a Pennsylvania Senator and New York’s governor on issues of evacuation and shut-down in the event of nuclear disaster. And a public campaign for an end to loan guarantees to nuclear energy companies could put an end to the US nuclear industry once and for all.

On Fukushima

The bad news on nuclear disaster continues to bleed from Japan with no end in sight. Sadly the “light at the end of the tunnel” is an out-of-control radioactive freight train, headed to the core of an endangered planet. Widespread internal radioactive contamination among Japanese citizens around Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant has now been confirmed. Two whales caught some 650 kilometers from the melting reactors have shown intense radiation. And plutonium, the deadliest substance known to people, has been found dangerously far from the site.

Tokyo Electric and the Japanese government have admitted to three total meltdowns at the nuclear plant but can’t confirm with any reliability the current state of those cores. There’s reason to believe one or more have progressed to “melt-throughs” in which they burn through the thick stainless steel pressure vessel and onto the containment floor. The molten cores may be covered with water. But whether they can melt further through the containments and into the ground remains unclear.

Possibilities may include a China Syndrome style escalating nuclear disaster in which one or more still-molten cores does melt through the containment and hits ground water. That could lead to a steam explosion that could blow still larger clouds of radioactive steam, water and debris into the atmosphere and ocean.

At least three nuclear explosions have already occurred, one of which may have involved criticality.

There’s no doubt at least two containments were breached very early in the crisis. Unit Four is cracked and sinking. The status of its used radioactive fuel pool, which has clearly caught fire, is uncertain.

Fukushima plus

Also unclear is the ability of the owners to sustain the stability of Units Five and Six, which were shut when the quake and tsunami hit. That stability depends on continued power to run fuel rod cooling systems, which could disappear amidst seismic aftershocks many believe are inevitable. A very substantial quake hit after the tremors that led to Indonesia’s devastating tsunami, and few doubt it could happen again—soon—at Fukushima.

All the above is dependent on reports controlled primarily by Tokyo Electric and the Japanese government. There’s every reason to believe the situation is worse than it seems, and that those in charge don’t really know the full of the extent of the damage or how to cope with it.

Just five years ago a quake shut seven nuclear reactors at Kashiwazaki. The entire nation of Japan sits on a wide range of fault lines. Tsunami is a Japanese word. But nuclear disaster doesn’t belong to them alone.

Radiation from Fukushima has long since been detected throughout the northern hemisphere, with health effects that will be debated forever.

Some fifty reactors still operate in Japan. According to some, the Japanese public has the legal right to shut them all. Let us pray they do. Yesterday.

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I would have ended it with just “let us pray”. More tomorrow.

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Nuclear Safety Questioned Worldwide And This Is The Response

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Come on. This is the response to the fact that the world is on a new nuclear brink. My mother could do better than this.

http://www.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/asiapcf/06/24/austria.nuclear.japan/

IAEA chief: Meeting paved way for nuclear safety framework

By the CNN Wire Staff
June 24, 2011 9:59 a.m. EDT

(CNN) — The top U.N. nuclear official said a conference on nuclear safety this week “achieved its main goal,” paving the way “for an enhanced post-Fukushima global nuclear safety framework.”

Yukiya Amano, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, told attendees of the IAEA’s Ministerial Conference on Nuclear Safety on Friday that its work will help strengthen “nuclear safety, emergency preparedness, and radiation protection of people and the environment worldwide.”

The officials at the meeting discussed nuclear safety in the aftermath of the disaster in Japan three months ago.

Three reactors at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant suffered meltdowns after the March 11 earthquake and tsunami that devastated northern Japan. The tsunami swamped the plant and knocked out cooling systems that kept the three operating reactors from overheating, leading to the worst nuclear accident since Chernobyl.

Amano said the Ministerial Declaration forged at the conference “outlines a number of measures to improve nuclear safety” and underscores the commitment to make sure they are implemented.

“Collectively, our Member States have expressed their sense of urgency, as well as their determination that the lessons of Fukushima Daiichi will be learned and that the appropriate action will be taken,” Amano said.

“This is not about process — it is about results. The Declaration agreed here this week must be translated into action — and it will be. This will require hard work from all Member States, and from the IAEA, in the years ahead,” Amano said.

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More next week.

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China’s Nuclear Power Program Pauses Briefly

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That is right. After one of the worst nuclear accidents in history, in its own backyard the Fukushima Power Plant Meltdown barely slowed the Chinese quest for megawatts. While Spain and other countries review their plants and Germany has renounced its programs altogether, the Chinese plunge ahead.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/jun/15/china-nuclear-plants-pass-inspections

China’s nuclear power plants pass safety inspections

Regulators give country’s 13 reactors the all-clear following checks ordered in wake of Fukushima disaster

nuclear power 
The Daya Bay nuclear power station in Guangdong province, south China. Inspectors have given the country’s existing reactors the all-clear. Photograph: Adrian Bradshaw/EPA

China has moved a step closer towards resuming its ambitious nuclear power plans after it was revealed that safety inspectors have given the country’s 13 reactors the all-clear.

The clean bill of health makes it more likely that Beijing will not follow the example of other countries – most recently German, Italy and Japan – who have promised to scale back or abandon nuclear power in the wake of the meltdown at the Fukushima Dai-ichi plant in March.

China has the world’s biggest nuclear expansion plans with a goal of more than 100 reactors by 2020, but it suspended permits for new plants after the tsunami disaster in Japan.

The government said it would not be resumed until existing plants were checked, construction plans reviewed and a new national safety framework put in place.

That process is now well under way, according to a statement by the deputy environment minister, Li Ganjie, posted on a government website. As well as the completed checks for plants in operation, reviews of facilities under construction would be finished by October, he said.

Few analysts expect China to trim or delay targets that were included in the latest five-year economic plan to meet the power demands of a growing economy, while reducing the country’s reliance on greenhouse gas-emitting fuel sources.

But critical voices have grown louder. Professor He Zuoxiu, who helped to develop China’s first atomic bomb, caused a storm last month when he claimed that plans to ramp up production of nuclear energy twentyfold by 2030 could be as disastrous as the Great Leap Forward.

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More tomorrow.
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Russian Nuclear Power Plants Are Old And Dangerous

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Just when you thought there could be no more Chernobyls, this report caused the reindeer to stampede.

http://www.hs.fi/english/article/Russian+officials+numerous+shortcomings+at+nuclear+plants+near+Finland/1135267043718

Russian officials: numerous shortcomings at nuclear plants near Finland

Inspection report leaked to Norwegian newspaper

Inspections of Russian nuclear power plants have revealed serious shortcomings in the safety of the plants – particularly in the preparations for earthquakes and other natural disasters.
The difficulties emerge in a report by the Russian state-owned nuclear energy company Rosatom, which was acquired by the Norwegian newspaper Aftenposten.
The paper wrote on Sunday that many of the problems apply to Russian nuclear installations in general. However, the greatest risks are in old reactors located in areas near Finland and Norway – on the Kola Peninsula and the St. Petersburg region. 

In several countries, including Russia, nuclear power plants have undergone “stress tests” following the nuclear accident which occurred at the Japanese plant in Fukushima in March.
Keijo Valtonen, an official at the Radiation and Nuclear Safety Authority Finland (STUK), expects that the results of the inspections conducted in Russia will be available in Finland soon.

Russian officials: numerous shortcomings at nuclear plants near Finland
Russian officials: numerous shortcomings at nuclear plants near Finland
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In addition to the earthquake risk the Rosatom report warns of inadequate reserve cooling systems in Russian plants. Nuclear fuel storage facilities were also shown to be inadequate in some places, and there is a shortage of trained maintenance personnel and inspectors in Russia.
The report lists a total of 31 shortcomings.
According to Valtonen, judging from the deficiencies that were listed, the Russians have made an open assessment of the problems. Norwegian experts also feel that the assessments are reliable.

The report also mentions the Sosnovy Bor nuclear power plant near St. Petersburg, which has been a cause for concern in Finland for some time.
The Sosnovy Bor plant uses the same reactor technology as what was used in Chernobyl, where the world’s worst nuclear accident took place in 1986. A mitigating factor in the matter is that the area is not especially prone to earthquakes.
Nuclear safety has also been assessed in Finland, in the wake of Fukushima. According to Valtonen, the risk reports made at the national level are to be given over to international assessment. “If shortcomings are noticed, drawing conclusions is a matter for each individual country.”

Previously in HS International Edition:
Finnish nuclear industry says Japan scenario unlikely in Finland (14.3.2011)
Steam leak brings Unit 1 of Loviisa Nuclear Power Plant to controlled shutdown (21.2.2011)
Finnish nuclear authority investigates problems in online reporting on Japan (15.3.2011)

See also:
People in Sosnovyi Bor discuss constructing new nuclear reactors (8.2.2007)

Links:
Radiation and Nuclear Safety Authority Finland (STUK)

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Unfortunately more Tomorrow.

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Electric Scooters And Other Electric Vehicles – Maybe, maybe not

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A hidden premise of mine is that we will have an energy crash in the future and when that happens most electricity will be diverted from the residential market to municipal and national security needs. After that food production and other necessities. Still people have their own electrical generation capacity. Enough to charge batteries so there will be a lot of “light” vehicles around. I don’t think many Volt sized cars will be workable but heh compared to a horse, 40 or 50 miles an hour is not bad.

http://www.electric-bikes.com/

Welcome to Electric-Bikes.com

Practical transportation for errands and short commutes.

Electric bikes are part of a wide range of Light Electric Vehicles (LEVs) that provide convenient local transportation. Generally designed for one person and small cargo capacity, electric bike range, speed, and cost are moderate. For most of us, the majority of our trips are less than 10 miles – within the range of most e-bikes. Clean, quiet, and efficient LEVs offer the advantages of an extra car without the burdens.

To learn more about the range of electric bikes, kits and LEVs, visit our introduction page. Or, click on your favorite type of vehicle below.

Scooters E-Bicycles E-Trikes Conversion Kits Betterbikes™ Folding E-Bikes
Pedicabs Motorscooters Motorcycles Neighbr. EVs Commuter Cars TriTrack Street

 

The following organizations suppport changing the California Vehicle Code to simplify the rules, reduce barriers, and fairly treat LEVs as viable transportation alternatives.

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More next week.

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What Happens If Fossil Fuels Are No Longer Feasible

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I should have made the topic of this meditation explicit yesterday. What effect would the absence of fossil fuels have on major sectors of our society? Some people think society would collapse other people think it would mutate. I think it would slow down but not change much. So I started thinking about the transportation sector. Yesterday the topic was walking, and today’s topic is water transport. It maybe academic but walking may have happened after swimming. That is the true upright bipedal walking. Some monkeys love to swim and swimming is the original transportation system. Going back to our talks about Abraham Lincoln. Two of the most important events in Abe’s life were boat rides. The first barge he took to New Orleans got stuck on the dam at New Salem and the people there helped him get the boat free. When his family decided to move to a farm in Southern Illinois he paddled to New Salem to start his adult life. Finally he took another barge to New Orleans where he bought his first horse. Now this next “history” believes that travel by boat started much later in man’s evolution than I do. I believe that boating could be as old as 20,000 or 40,000 years old. Nonetheless it is a good discussion of the sequence.

http://www.essortment.com/history-transportation-21230.html

As man overcame the boundaries of land travel, his curiosity about the world around him increased. To his aid, man had developed a means of traveling on water even before he had domesticated the horse. The origin of the dugout boat is one of history’s great mysteries. Historians are unable to pinpoint when or where the very first water vessel was set afloat, and even speculate that it might have been purely an accident the first time. But, however it happened, the addition of the boat changed the face of transportation. Boats allowed man to, for the first time ever, cross bodies of water without getting wet.

Over time, the simple boat evolved to include a large square of cloth mounted on a central pole. This cloth, called a sail, would turn the boat into a sail-propelled ship. This new addition gave man the ability to use waterways as a means of swift travel from one place to another, and even to travel against the current of rivers. However, the evolution of water travel didn’t stop with the sail. Ships would eventually take on a sleekness as they increased in size. Before long, they would add oars and rudders, then deck covers. By Greek and Roman times, ships had grown clunky shipboard towers, as well, which developed, over time, into the Medieval stern- and forecastles. By the late Medieval era, these castles were built solid, as a part of the ship’s basic structure. Then, by the Renaissance and the Age of Exploration which followed, ships had gained tiers of rigging and sails, becoming sleek and speedy.

Then, in the 1800s, ships began to shed their sails on the rivers once again. The advent of automation was changing transportation forever. The very first automation in ships was the cumbersome paddlewheel. Due to their bulky form and inability to turn easily, paddlewheel boats were confined to river travel, where they would experience calmer currents and need less manueverablity.

After the paddlewheel came the steamship. These vessels used coal or wood, burned to heat water, which in turn created the steam pressure used to work the pistons which moved the ship. The steamship was to enjoy a long and trusted run on both rivers and seas. Then, in 1912, the first diesel-powered ship, the Danish Selandia, was launched. That diesel engine design was to become the industrial and military standard until after World War II.

Then, in 1958, the first nuclear powered ship was launched. However, nuclear power was soon discarded by industry as too expensive and risky, though it would continue to find use in the military community.

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More tomorrow.

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Traipsing, Ambulation, Or Walk About – It is the way humans travel for 100s of thousands of years

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People today do not understand walking as transportation at all. When anthropoligists say that humans “spread” from South Africa to Asian and Europe what they really mean is walked. I love Abraham Lincoln stories. The legends have it that Abe used to walk to Springfield to borrow law books from his friend and mentor Tod Stuart whose office in Springfield he walked to. As the crow flies or as humans walk this was a 20 mile trip but he probably did not make this trip in one day, though he probably could have if he took off at first light or before. He likely walked in one day, partied the night away and walked back the next day. There were several since abandoned communities along the way that he probably stopped at as well including the twice revived Clayville stage coach stop.  People would have thought nothing of it. He would not been alone on the trail. There would have been fresh fruit to eat on the way in season. At noon he may have swam in the Sangamon. Abe was no stranger to walking. The year before he moved to New Salem he rode a river boat barge loaded with goods from Decatur Il. to New Orleans and walked back.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walking

Walking

 This article may require cleanup to meet Wikipedia’s quality standards. Please improve this article if you can. The talk page may contain suggestions. (February 2009)
 

Simple Walk-Cycle

Walking (also known as ambulation) is one of the main gaits of locomotion among legged animals, and is typically slower than running and other gaits. Walking is defined by an ‘inverted pendulum’ gait in which the body vaults over the stiff limb or limbs with each step. This applies regardless of the number of limbs – even arthropods with six, eight or more limbs.

In humans and other bipeds, walking is generally distinguished from running in that only one foot at a time leaves contact with the ground and there is a period of double-support. In contrast, running begins when both feet are off the ground with each step. This distinction has the status of a formal requirement in competitive walking events. For quadrupedal species, there are numerous gaits which may be termed walking or running, and distinctions based upon the presence or absence of a suspended phase or the number of feet in contact any time do not yield mechanically correct classification[1]. The most effective method to distinguish walking from running is measurement via a force plate, but definitions based on the percent of the stride in which a foot is in contact with the ground (averaged across all feet) of greater than 50% contact corresponds well with identification of ‘inverted pendulum’ mechanics via force plate measurements for animals with any number of limbs[1].

An average human child achieves independent walking ability around 11 months old.[2] The word walk is descended from the Old English wealcan “to roll”.

Although walking speeds can vary greatly depending on factors such as height, weight, age, terrain, surface, load, culture, effort, and fitness, the average human walking speed is about 5 kilometres per hour (km/h), or about 3.1 miles per hour (mph). Specific studies have found pedestrian walking speeds ranging from 4.51 km/h to 4.75 km/h for older individuals to 5.32 km/h to 5.43 km/h for younger individuals.[3][4] A pedestrian is a person who is walking on a road, pavement or path.

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http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2005/09/050916074420.htm

The Mechanics Of Foot Travel: With So Many Silly Gaits To Choose From, Why Have We Adopted So Few?

ScienceDaily (Sep. 16, 2005) — Despite having the bones and muscles to perform a variety of gaits, human beings have developed an overwhelming preference for just two: walking and running. Now, computer analysis that allows simulation of infinite two-legged locomotions has shown our favored modes of bi-pedal travel use the least amount of energy.

Indeed, in an article published in the current online edition of the British journal Nature, Cornell engineers Andy Ruina and Manoj Srinivasan compare the mechanics of walking and running with “many other strange and unpractised gaits.” They used a set of computer models that simulated physical measurements such as leg length, force, body velocity and trajectory, forward speed and work.

“We wish to find how a person can get from one place to another with the least muscle work,” they report. “Why do people not walk or even run with a smooth level gait, like a waiter holding two cups brim-full of boiling coffee?”

The engineers’ computer simulations conclude that walking is simply most energy efficient for travel at low speeds, and running is best at higher speeds. And, they report, a third walk-run gait is optimal for intermediate speeds, even though humans do not appear to take advantage of it.

The findings help to explain why the possible–but preposterous–gaits in the Monty Python sketch, “Ministry of the Silly Walks,” have never caught on in human locomotion. The researchers add that extensions of this work might improve the design of prosthetic devices and energy-efficient bipedal robots.

 

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More horsing around tomorrow.

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Beautiful Green Awards – Let us know who your favorite green businesses are

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Steve Blessman forwarded this to me and I am forwarding it to you. I did not know about these awards but they seem pretty cool.

From: Stephen Blessman <blessmans@yahoo.com>
Subject: Green Jobs Awards Application
To: “Steve Blessman” <blessmans@yahoo.com>
Date: Thursday, June 2, 2011, 12:09 PM

Apply now for the 2011 Green Jobs Award!

TEXT/E-MAIL


Green Jobs Award Deadline June 15

Apply now or forward to a prospect
Don’t miss your opportunity to be recognized and celebrated as a leader who is creating great green jobs! Apply for a 2011 Green Jobs Award by June 15! The Green Jobs Award program is produced by SJF Institute and Clean Edge with support from the Citi Foundation. Innovative companies with a business model that preserves or enhances environmental quality and at least ten employees and over $500,000 in revenue are eligible. Winners will receive recognition, media exposure and a package of pro bono business services provided by Certified B Corporations.

The ten 2010 winners from across the country represented diverse industries from renewable energy and energy efficiency to consumer products, manufacturing and engineering. They included the latest in clean technology as well as green innovations in traditional industries. Together, they represented over $150 million in revenue and created over 1,300 great, green jobs.

Help us accelerate the growth of innovative green job creators and demonstrate the potential of the green economy for all communities. Apply now! The application deadline is June 15. Visit www.greenjobsaward.org to learn more.

 

 

TWITTER

  • Apply by June 15 for a Green Jobs Award #GJA2011 and be recognized as an innovative company creating good green jobs http://bit.ly/cjdc1R

 

  • Is your company innovating a traditional industry & creating green jobs? Apply by June 15 for a national award #GJA2011 http://bit.ly/cjdc1R

 

·         Are you enabling others to benefit from going green through your company’s products/services? #GJA2011 Green Jobs Award http://bit.ly/cjdc1R

 

  • Is your company creating great green jobs #GJA2011? Apply by June 15 for the nationally recognized Green Jobs Award http://bit.ly/cjdc1R

·

 

FACEBOOK & LINKEDIN GROUPS/PROFILE

  • Does your innovative company preserve or enhance environmental quality while creating great green jobs? Apply by June 15 for the nationally recognized Green Jobs Award. Go to www.greenjobsaward.org for more information and the application.
  • Don’t miss your chance to be recognized as an innovative company creating good, green jobs! Apply by June 15 for the nationally recognized Green Jobs Award. Go to www.greenjobsaward.org/apply to download your application.

http://www.greenjobsaward.org/apply

2011 Green Jobs Award Application

We are currently accepting  applications for the 2011 Green Jobs Awards!

Eligibility

Private, for-profit companies located in the United States with at least 10 employees and $500,000 in annual revenue in the last calendar or fiscal year are eligible to apply.

Apply

Is your company  creating great green jobs? We invite you to submit the Stage 1 Application here. Application Deadline is June 15.

 

SJF_GJA-button_120x60-apply_2011

Application Process

1. Review Eligibility
2. Use a PC operating system and Adobe Reader 8.0 or higher, to view and complete the application. Click here for a free download the newest version of Adobe Reader 10.0.
3. Download, review, complete and save a copy to your computer, then submit the Stage 1 Application by June 15. Click here to download the application.
4. Semi-finalists will be notified by July 1, and will be provided with the Stage 2 application to complete.
5. Semi-finalists complete and submit the Stage 2 application by August 1.
6. Winners announced at a Green Jobs Convening and Award reception in October 2011.

Selection Criteria

Applicants will be evaluated on:

  • Business model’s viability and positive environmental impact
  • Creation of quality jobs (living wages, benefits, training, career track)
  • Diversity of employment opportunities
  • Positive workplace culture and level of community engagement

Winners will receive recognition, media exposure, executive mentorship opportunities,  as well as a package of pro bono business services provided by Certified B Corporations. Winners will also receive an all expense paid trip to the Award Reception in October 2011.

Send an email to greenjobsaward@sjfinstitute.org if you have any questions.

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More next week.

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Tear Down This Wall Lt. General Robert Van Antwerp

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We need to return to a more natural way to handle our waterways in the Mississippi Watershed. There is farmland that floods. Let it. These are bottom lands that should only be farmed at the farmers expense. There are towns that need to be moved. We can not control the watershed so we should stop trying.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/us_mississippi_river_flooding

By MICHAEL KUNZELMAN, Associated Press – 1 hr 6 mins ago

KROTZ SPRINGS, La. – Renee Ledoux cried when the National Guard and sheriff’s deputies showed up at her front door and warned her she needed to get out to avoid water gushing from the Mississippi River after a floodgate was opened for the first time in four decades.

But by the 5 p.m. deadline Sunday, the 44-year-old Ledoux and her boyfriend Billy Hanchett decided to ride it out one more night on air mattresses inside the empty home in Krotz Springs. They have a camper they plan to stay in on a friend’s property outside the flood zone.

“We really don’t want to go,” Hanchett said. Ledoux added that she felt blessed that they had the camper because a lot of others have nowhere to go except shelters.

Meanwhile, President Barack Obama planned to fly to Memphis, Tenn., on Monday to meet with families affected when the river flooded there as well as local officials, first responders and volunteers.

Deputies all over Louisiana Cajun country were warning residents to head for higher ground and most heeded it, even in places where there hasn’t been so much as a trickle, hopeful that the flooding engineered to protect heavily populated New Orleans and Baton Rouge would be merciful to their way of life.

Days ago, many of the towns known for their Cajun culture bustled with activity as people filled sandbags and cleared out belongings. By Sunday, some areas were virtually empty as the water from the Mississippi River, swollen by snowmelt and heavy rains, slowly rolled across the Atchafalaya River basin. It first started to come, in small amounts, into people’s yards in Melville on Sunday. But it still had yet to move farther downstream.

The floodwaters could reach depths of 20 feet in the coming weeks, though levels were nowhere close to that yet in the towns about 50 miles west of Baton Rouge.

Elsewhere, in an effort to keep a major shipping connection between the Gulf of Mexico and the Mississippi River open, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers moved in a fifth dredge to dig sediment out of the Southwest Pass. A high river brings a huge amount of sediment and the dredges were being used to keep the 45-foot channel needed for deep-draft shipping.

Over the weekend, the Port of New Orleans said it had been told by the Coast Guard that shipping probably would continue largely unhindered on the lower Mississippi.

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And that is what they want to protect. Baton Rouge and New Orleans are irrelevant. It’s the refineries, the petro-chemical plants and shipping that really matter. Please read the rest of the article. It is a pretty good “on the ground” coverage. They don’t come to the same conclusions that I do but then that is why I am me. More tomorrow.

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