SAVING DOWNSTREAM CITIES AND REFINERIES IS

THE GOAL AS MISSISSIPPI RIVER CRESTS IN MEMPHIS AND FLOOD WATERS MOVE

SOUTHWARDMONDAY, MAY 9, 2011

Walter Hays, Global Alliance for Disaster Reduction, University of

North Carolina, USA

THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER: LOOKING MORE LIKE AN OCEAN THAN A RIVER

MISSISSIPPI RIVER CRESTED TODAY IN MEMPHIS AREA

• The Mississippi River crested today around 7:00 pm in Memphis, Tennessee, just cm below its 74-year-old record, as a bulge of water moved southward towards other cities and the refineries in Louisiana.

RIVER CRESTED WITHIN A FEW CM OF THE 1937 RECORD

THE WATER: A POTENTIAL HEALTH RISK

• The Mississippi River flood water, which is contaminated by the pesticides, industrial pollutants, and debris acquired as it drained 41 percent of the Nation, and now is full of snakes, represents a health risk. •

DEBRIS-LADEN WATER; MAY 9TH

MEMPHIS: BARGE TRAFFIC HALTED; MAY 6, 2011

MEMPHIS: BEALE STREET UNDER WATER

MEMPHIS, TN RESIDENTS WARNED OF NEED TO EVACUATE: MAY 6, 2011

STRANDED PETS

SATARTIA, MS: HIGH WATERS INUNDATE HIGHWAY; MAY 9TH

NORCO, LA: BONNET CARRE SPILLWAY OPENED; MAY 9TH

NEW ORLEANS: SPILLWAY OPENED CITY; MAY 9TH

CITIES AND OIL REFINERIES IN LOUISIANA AT RISK

• 2011’s flood waters have the potential to inundate cities (e.g., New Orleans) and the 11 oil refineries in the New Orleans-to-Baton Rouge region, which have a combined capacity of 2.5 million barrels a day. •

THE WORST CASE FOR OIL REFINERIES IN LOUISIANA

• The worst case is for flood waters to inundate the refineries and shut them down for several months, as was the case after Hurricane Katrina.

SHORT-TERM SOLUTION

• Controlled release of water that will flood farmland and rural areas instead of cities like New Orleans and the 11 refineries near New Orleans and Baton Rouge is a short-term solution to reduce the risk.