OPINION- Guest writer

Comes the flood

Region ill-prepared for deluge

In 2011 I was at the Black River Technical College, which is located on the low side of the Black River, giving a speech in their then-new auditorium. The topic was Randolph County's role in the Civil War, but all present were more engaged with the ongoing weather rather than the 1860-61 sectional crisis.

At one point the tornado sirens went off and speechmaking stopped. At the same time the levee on the Black River opposite Poplar Bluff broke.


The Flood of 2011 affected the entire Mississippi River valley and was chronicled by Army Corps of Engineers historian Charles A. Camillo in the book Divine Providence: The 2011 Flood in the Mississippi River and Tributaries Project. The Mississippi River and Tributaries Project plan dates to 1956 and, while updated occasionally, a new assessment is not due until this December.

However, global warming has changed weather patterns and the old 100-year flood benchmark is clearly outdated when monster floods are separated only by six years.

While Jonesboro columnist Dana D. Kelley in his May 5 column praised the locals for pitching in and "making the state proud," the greater truth is that this flood is just a reminder that Congress has failed to appropriate funds even to complete critical needs left over from 2011. Further, a much larger area than just Missouri and Arkansas is now threatened.

What use is it to put the levees back to where they were if the next flood is likely to be even higher? Interesting at the Mississippi River Commission's meeting on April 4, the commission heard requests from two local districts needing help removing obstructions and cleaning out a ditch. Were these needs attended to?

The larger question is what can we expect from the Arkansas delegation in Washington? Cut taxes or fund properly the Corps?

On the one side are the really important needs of the rich; on the other are the lives of 4.5 million people, 1.2 million homes, 1,147 schools and 91 colleges and universities, 102 hospitals and 240 nursing homes, 4,364 miles of highways including five interstates, and 563 manufacturing facilities generating $106 billion in revenues while employing 207,000 workers. Tourism and travel generate more than $15 billion, and the list goes on.

Further, the McClellan-Kerr Arkansas River Navigation system, of which 308 miles are within Arkansas, is badly out of date and in bad shape.

The issue hangs in the balance. If the federal government will not provide funds, let's fall back on the Arkansas Plan. Let every county build and maintain its own levees.

That's how it started more than a hundred years ago and marching ever backwards is very popular today.

It is the duty of every citizen to find out where your senators and representatives stand. Even more essential, every county judge and all the emergency services need to know who will stand for or against them when the next flood comes.

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Michael B. Dougan is distinguished professor of history emeritus at Arkansas State University.

Editorial on 05/13/2017

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