SWOLLEN MISSISSIPPI RIVER REACHES MID-SOUTH STATES

AND MEMPHIS,TN AREA RECORDS BROKEN, BUT EVEN WORSE

FLOODING MAY STILL BE AHEAD

APRIL 31- MAY 10, 2011Walter Hays, Global Alliance for

Disaster Reduction, University of North Carolina, USA

THE 2011 EXPERIENCE

• The flooding has already broken high-water records that have stood since the 1930s, …

ARLINGTON, TN: ONLY ROOF OF CAR REMAINS ABOVE WATER

MILLINGTON, TN: APRIL 31, 2011

BOLTON, TN : APRIL 31, 2011

MILLINGTON, TN: MAY 3, 2011

MILLINGTON, TN: RESCUE OPERATIONS

VOLUNTEER HELPING OTHERS ESCAPE

HEAVY RAINFALL IN MEMPHIS AREA: APRIL 31, 2011

• Major thunderstorms unleashed up to a 1/3 meter (a foot of rain) that swamped the Memphis area with "unprecedented" flooding, in-undating homes and vehicles, bursting levees, and forcing the evacuation of more than 1,500 people.

THE LOOSAHATCHIE RIVER

• The Loosahatchie River rose 23 feet in less than 24 hours, reaching a record 25.31 feet at 7:15 a.m., surpassing the former high-water mark of 25.27 feet set in December 1987.

THE WORST MAY STILL BE AHEAD

• As far south as the Mississippi delta itself, people face the question of whether to stay or to evacuate, as high water flows down the Mississippi River and its tributaries, threatening to flood communities along the river during the next week or two.

MEMPHIS: MAY 3, 2011

MISSISSIPPI RIVER BARGE TRAFFIC HALTED: MAY 6

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

BI-LINGIAL MESSAGES

• THE WARNINGS WERE PROVIDED IN ENGLISH AND SPANISH.