CNN news 2011-05-12
Hello everyone ,this Tuesday on CNN student news ,we are taking you under the big top.First though,we're headed down to the mighty Mississippi.That would be the Mississippi River which is causing floods up and down as it path through the United States.Wanna take you down the river now to check out some of what's been going on.We're gonna start in southern Illinois in the city of Cairo ,you see it right there on your screen.Flooding was threatening to wipe out the entire town.The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers came up with this plan to help Cairo and some other communities nearby.And that brings us down to Missouri.What the Corps did was intentionally blow up a levee ,a barrier that's designed to actually prevent flooding.That helped the towns up in the Illnois,but it purposely flooded some parts of Missouri ,some farms.And a lot of people ,especially farmer angry with this plan.One farmer said she felt like she was suffering for somebody else.
The flooding has followed the Mississippi's path through Arkansas and down into Louisiana ,as you see here.Yesterday engineers opened a spillway north of the city of New Orleans.The goal here is to help ease the pressure on the river,hopefully lower the flood levels ,keep the water away from the New Orleans.But just to get you an idea of how much water we're talking about a commander,with the Arm Corps of Engineers offered an analogy.He said the water that is rushing through the Mississippi right now ,in one second,could fill up an area the size of a football field 44 feet deep.
We are also seeing flooding in states that the Mississippi branches off to ,like Tennessee.Holly Firfer has more on the situation there.
Tennessee's largest city is in the cross hairs. Memphis now has the "most high-risk population" for flooding according to the Army Corps of Engineers.
On Tuesday,authorities expected the Mississippi to crest at 48 feet outside the city,less than a foot shy of the record level set in 1937.With the Mississippi swollen by a month of abnormally high rainfall,its tributaries are overflowing with nowhere for their water to flow.At least 1,100 homes and trailers in and around Memphis have been evacuated .400 residents of Shellby County are currently in shelters.On Sunday,officials went door to door to alert others that they may also need to leave their homes.The mayor of Memphis is confident that all those who need to escape the rising waters will be evacuated.
"We 'll get them out.Some are holding out to the last minute, but we think in the end ,they're gonna come out.
Officials say well there is great pressure on the levees around Memphis,they are currently performing as expected.