Mississippi River Reclaims Floodplain in Parts of Missouri

ROBERT SIEGEL, host:

From NPR News, this is ALL THINGS CONSIDERED. I'm Robert Siegel.

MICHELE NORRIS, host:

And I'm Michele Norris. The flooded Mississippi River could soon stop rising, according to Missouri forecasters. While that's welcome news for some communities, it comes too late for many that have been underwater for days. With more than 30 levees over top, this latest flood has raised some basic questions about who has the right to contain the mighty Mississippi, or whether it can be contained at all.

From member station KWMU in St. Louis, Adam Allington reports.

ADAM ALLINGTON: There isn't much here in the tiny hamlet of Anada(ph), Missouri besides a grain elevator and 20 or so homes surrounded by corn. Two days ago, that corn was growing strong. Now the lush green stalks are barely visible.

Mr. JOHN MURO(ph): It's all underwater - 18 inches and two-foot deep.

ALLINGTON: To get in and out of his home, John Muro has to power a boat the half mile stretch of his driveway. At 76, Muro's lived in the same farmhouse his entire life, but today he's moving in with his daughter, and doesn't know if he'll be back here.

Mr. MURO: You know, you have a home, you'd kind of like to come back to it. I'm getting the age now, though, it don't make much difference whether I come back here or not. I can't handle it like I used to.

ALLINGTON: Just south of Anada, virtually all of the primary levees along the river have been breeched. Some residents woke over the weekend to find themselves stranded, unable to drive their cars off of high ground. Standing on what's now a little island around his home, Randy Sappington(ph) keeps a wary eye on the river.

Mr. RANDY SAPPINGTON: The water's going over the highway right now, so it don't look like we're going to be able to get out till the water gets deep enough on these fields, and then I can boat across the fields.

ALLINGTON: So far, large urban areas downstream like St. Louis have escaped the flood without too much trouble. Still, Washington University hydrologist Bob Criss says unchecked development on the Mississippi floodplain is a continuing problem.

Professor BOB CRISS (Hydrologist, Washington University): We are acting as if flooding is so rare and protection can be so good that floodplain development is okay.

ALLINGTON: Criss argues that understating flood risk and overstating flood protection has created a cycle of building ever-higher levees, which simply push flood water downstream for someone else to deal with. He says that's the reason so many levees in northeast Missouri were breeched.

Prof. CRISS: Those levees were overtopped because too many other levees have been built too high up. It proves lose-lose for everyone. The barges are stranded. It doesn't help the farmers. It doesn't help anybody. ...

•	Mississippi River Reclaims Floodplain in Parts of Missouri NPR: All Things Considered, Monday, June 23, 2008 Byline: Adam Allington, KWMU

	Story also ran in 1 others:  KWMU-FM (St. Louis)