Topic starter
03/05/2011 5:48 pm
Greetings From New Orelans ,
At approximately 10:00 pm last night , the U.S. Army Corps Of Engineers detonated the explosive devices that they implanted into an approximate two mile strecth of the Mississippi River levee system in order to help relieve the esccaluating pressure brought on by this years spring time record floods !
It is my understanding that when the Corps constructs these levees that there are strategically placed sections of the levee that are actually designed to be more readilly capable of being blown out for such times as these ! Great planning on some one's part ! CNN was there to film , record , narrate and interview the loccal population and law enforcement agencies as well.
Furthermore , it is my understanding that this same Corps Of Engineer fleet will now proceede down river to Eight Mile Island to blast a whole in the levee system there as well !
More as the facts come in !
Smooth Sailing !
Ted Davisson
NOBRA 70
03/05/2011 5:57 pm
Ted & Steamboating colleagues:
Thanks Ted for your update along with fine photos on other postings. I watched TV early this morning while in the barber shop here. All we saw was the dark screen with the flashes when detonated. I'll check TV and .org later today. Question: Why did they detonate at night? Naturally, it received short coverage due to the earth shaking events in Pakistan. What a time we live in!
Also thanks to Judy and others for the MQ photos showing the work advancing on cutting her up [Or is is cutting her 'down?']. Not a pretty sight and so very sad. Who would have thought? I have here a complete set of the MQ's engines given to me by Kenny Howe some years back.
R. Dale Flick
Coal Haven Landing, Ohio River, Cincinnati.
Topic starter
03/05/2011 7:15 pm
Time Was Of The Essence !
Greetings From New Orleans ,
A wise man once said , " Timing Is Everything " , and from what I am told that is why the Corps Of Engineers decided to detonaate the levee at night !
From what I was also told , that due to the legal wrangling and court issues this operation was both delayed and pushed back and so due to the gravity of the situation and due to the fact the Corps also has plans to detonate and open another section of levee down river at Island Eight , the decision was made to finish the job at Birds Point as soon as possible !
I too , thought it was odd that they would blow the levee at night but I assume that the Corps wanted to wrap up this part of the job as soon as possible !
More latter as the facts come in !
Smooth Sailing !
NOBRA 70
03/05/2011 8:00 pm
Wow Dale -
R. Dale Flick;25784 wrote:
I have here a complete set of the MQ's engines given to me by Kenny Howe some years back.R. Dale Flick
Coal Haven Landing, Ohio River, Cincinnati.
Are they in your house or yard? Either way, they must take up a lot of room! (or maybe a word like 'drawings' might have been left out of your posting???) Sorry, I couldn't resist that, Dale! I might be retired, but the 'red pencil' is still in me! As I said in one of the MQ postings, I sure don't take pleasure in posting those pix, but they are part of steamboat history, like it or not, and as such they should be available to the public. I just thank the people, some anonymous and some named, who have been kind enough to share them with us. Let's hope that the auction that was mentioned in the video comes true and a few things can be salvaged by the river community.