When the levee breaks...

News this morning that numerous levees along the Mississippi river, from Iowa to Illinois, have already been breached or are close to being breached. The water is slowly headed downstream and St. Louis will be facing a 40 foot crest this weekend, floodstage is 30 feet. The flood of 1993 saw a 50 foot crest in the City of St. Louis.

In 1993 I was a young teenager when the city of St. Louis flooded. My family lived far enough from the Mississippi and Missouri rivers to escape any real threat of flooding of our home but I had friends who spent a lot of time filling sandbags to protect their streets and homes. The images of the Mississippi river lapping against the top steps of the Arch are still surreal. Whenever I'm home and drive out west of the city through the Gumbo Flats Chesterfield Valley I can't help but remark to whomever is with me in the car that the entire area we are driving through was completely underwater during that great flood.

This year the worst of the flooding is going to remain farther north. Unfortunately many of the people living in those areas do not have flood insurance. Due to dated Army Corps of Engineers Maps many did not even realize that there homes were even in a flood plain - until now. Many of these communities do not have the updated levees that protect cities like St. Louis. They are ill-prepared for the water that is coming. The Army Corps of Engineers is concerned about 27 different levees that are holding on by just the strength of sandbags.

With just a few sandbags between these towns, these citizens and these lives and the Mississippi River we can all only hope that they hold and spare these small towns.