About 90 people goot a suprise wake up when they awoke to find there farm land to be flooded with water. Floodwaters washed over 300,000 acres of fertile farmland in southeast Missouri last week. The flooding of crops and houses was heinous because it was result of a human decision. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers blew a hole in the levee at Birds Point, Missouri, on Monday, destroying farmland in a bid to save communities upstream.
Many farm owners was devistated over this decision. They felt that it was truely unnessicary. There crops for this season was ruined it being drastically devistating being as prices for crops were at a record high. Early estimates put crop damage alone at $100 million.
The decision to blow a hole in the levee on Monday came after weeks deciding what to do. Record melted snow across the Upper Mississippi River was headed downstream just as heavy rains were swelling the Mississippi and Ohio rivers. Also, high waters are creating anxiety all the way to the Gulf of Mexico. The U.S had to make a desision and quick.
The decision was regrettable but necessary. Cairo, Illinois, a town of about 3,000 residents at the confluence of the Mississippi and Ohio Rivers, was in imminent danger of flooding. High waters remain a threat for many other communities in Illinois and Kentucky. A federal judge upheld the U.S Army corps decision to do this. They felt that it was nessary. For the damages to the crops, The U.S. Department of Agriculture says federal crop insurance will cover all the losses.
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