Taming the Mississippi

The Army Corps of Engineers reduced the impact of recent floods. But there's a cost to controlling such a mighty river

A neighborhood dog swims through the flooded waters of the Mississippi river May 21, 2011
(Image credit: Mario Tama/Getty Images)

Were this year’s floods bad?

Not as bad as they could have been. Despite record-breaking water levels in Mississippi and Louisiana, the human toll has been lower than in earlier floods. About 10,000 people were displaced from their homes during May—far fewer than in the devastating floods of 1927, which left 600,000 homeless, or the 1993 floods, which destroyed 50,000 homes. This relative success came largely because the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which is tasked with controlling the Mississippi, quickly destroyed levees and opened floodways, allowing floodwater to flow over sparsely populated land before it reached built-up areas. The system “was designed to handle this,” said Col. Jeff Eckstein, commander of the Vicksburg, Miss., district of the Corps of Engineers. “We feel very comfortable with the system performing just as we thought it would.”

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up
To continue reading this article...
Continue reading this article and get limited website access each month.
Get unlimited website access, exclusive newsletters plus much more.
Cancel or pause at any time.
Already a subscriber to The Week?
Not sure which email you used for your subscription? Contact us