I don't fully agree with the premise of river mods increasing flood risk to new areas, in fact not much at all. You can counter that with the fact that due to many flood controls in place (Locks and Dams, man made reservoirs, etc) we have tools to reduce the impact of flooding as well as frequency. Right now, many of our flood control lakes in MO (flood control is THE primary purpose of the Corps lakes) are holding back a lot oThere is much more to the question of paying attention to levees after past year major floods. We certainly have many levees that are not in optimum conditions, and some that are in bad need of repair in order to provide maximum protection. However, often the stories the media reports don't quite tell the story. For example...some of the levees that are getting overtopped were designed to overtop at these water levels for engineering purposes (to build landside head, flow/level reduction or relief, etc). Along those lines...folks behind levees are fully aware of the amount of protection (how high river level) that they live behind.

So many of those folks in trouble now have been in trouble at least once if not multiple times, so I don't buy into being suprised by floods. If you live in a floodplain, you should expect floods.

People look at a 100 year flood and say, well every 100 years that might happen. The real way to look at it is that EVERY year, there is a 1% chance it will happen.

On a lighter note...I noticed CNN's caption to that pic of deer in the water called them a "school of deer". I guess once they hit the water the term changes from "herd" to "school". Does that mean all the fish left behind when the water goes down will be reported "herds of dead and dying fish"?

By that logic, then people deserve what they get for living in areas that may get hit by tornados at a greater frequency than others, even if it hasn't happened for a couple generations. Ditto for earthquakes, wildfires, etc.

I'm not supporting people who build a new house or buy a house in what is clearly a flood prone area. But, what is or isnt a flood prone area can change thru time (both positively or negatively) due to natural conditions or man-made modifications. Any hydrologist can tell you that.

First and foremost, I never said anyone "deserves" anything. While I don't get some people's insistance on ignoring the obvious possibilities, I do not wish them ill will. I would never say someone that falls out of treestand that did not wear a safety belt deserves to be paralized, even though I do think treestand hunting without one is stupid.

No, that is not my logic, and...many if not most of these folks in trouble (in MO and IL) are in areas that clearly are flood areas. When you look out your kitchen window at the MS River...you have a good idea. When you lost everything in '93, and now you are on the news crying because "you lost it all again" you have a good idea. I do not think there are many flood victims at all that can honestly say, "We never expected that this could happen."

Comparing subtle differences in flood zones due to man induced changes to tornadoes, wildfires andearthquakes is simply ridiculous. I have been around a hydrologist or two and a few levee designs in my line of work, trust me.

The fact is that there is considerable attention paid to levee deficiencies. I have spent many hours investigating, documenting, and even studying them. But, funding is the driver there...someone has to pay for a new levee or repairs and modifications to existing levees. As with the case with many things in our country, it is easy to find more important use of money when the emergency is not at hand.

Nothing silly about stating the obvious; that living in a particular area may put one at higher risk for certain things than people in other areas may face. Since you have obviously chosen to live at the northern edge of the New Madrid fault, you are obviously willing to accept a certain amount of risk for earthquake that people in other areas dont face.

I don't agree with people who got creamed in 93 rebuilding in the same place. But this year you have people getting hit in areas that were high and dry in 93, at least in other parts of Illinois. That is because their grandparents built in areas that the levee builders assured them would be safe. Again, manmade modifications to waterways can have positive or negative benefits in the long run, and what is or isnt flood prone can change. One of my best friend is a state climatologist/physical geographer who specializes in flood events and has been serving as an expert witness for court proceedings related to katrina flooding. If you like i will pass along his email and you can argue this with him.

LCC hit the nail on the head. We have caused the flooding to be worse. If I hear the "500" year flood theory speech again I am going to go nuts.

We destroyed all the wetlands, folks the water has no place to go[X(]

I wonder why the gov. isnt getting blamed for the levees like they were during Katrina, all those in New Orleans that were to stupid to get out of the way and ended up blaming the Gov for everything including the levees.

My original point had nothing to do with anyone affected in any area of low probability of flooding.

I can see now why I am loosing this debate now, considering your best friend is a climatologist/physical geographer, LOL. What in the world that has to do with river engineering, river hydrology, or levee design, I have no idea. But seriously man...you win.

You do realize thatclimatologist/physical geographers andhydrologists frequently work together on projects and even serve together as faculty or research staff in the same departments and research centers.Sometimes they even teach courses that have pretty much the same content, just different titles. Physical geographers frequently serve on the M.A. and Ph.D. committees of people studying in the fields of engineering and hydrology that you discussed.

To get this back to a more cordial tone, I understandmany of your points. However, anytime you have manmade modifications to somethinglike the Mississippi River, it is eventually gonna come back to bite you on the butt. So, you eitherleave much of the rivervalley vacant or accept the fact that the crap is gonna hit the fan from time to time.

For folks who may be interested in this general topic, check out the book by Craig Colten, Transforming New Orleans and its Environs: Centuries of Change. It actually deals witha large area of the lower Mississippi River valley and discusses the pros and cons of ambitious levee building projecta and other modifications of the river thru time..