Thursday, February 13, 2020

38 Feet! (Updated)

 Rez to hold more water to delay flooding.

We are going to get some flooding in Jackson.  The Pearl River is going to rise to 38 feet:



Meanwhile up at Ratliff Ferry:



Here is what it will look like when the river hits 38 feet.




The Pearl River Valley Water Supply District issued the following statement.

Barnett Reservoir officials said Thursday they would continue to hold water in the 33,000-acre lake as long as possible to delay flooding in Jackson and downstream which became  imminent after two more inches of rain than predicted fell in the basin Wednesday night. The National Weather Service in now predicting a crest of 38 feet on the Pearl River gauge at  Jackson on Sunday morning, the third highest on record. By comparison, the river reached 39.58 on  May 25 1983.

Reservoir officials are preparing to receive peak inflows of between 88,000 and 95,000 cubic feet  per second on Sunday, as forecast by the National Weather Service and other agencies.

“We will hold off releasing water as long as we can to give residents time to prepare for  flooding,” said John Sigman, General Manager of Pearl River Valley Water Supply District, the state  agency that oversees operation of the lake. “We increased our release at the dam this morning to  60,000 cubic feet per second and we will continue to hold water until the lake reaches 299 feet  above sea level.
“When we reach that level, we will have to begin releasing more water. At 300 feet, our emergency spillway will begin to self-activate. We will have no option other than to increase our release through the dam.”

37 comments:

Anonymous said...

So glad the leaders of Jackson have taken so many proactive steps over the last 40 years to address flooding problems.
Wait...
What???
Never mind...

Anonymous said...

I bet it doesn't stop there either. We better pray for several days of no precip. If we get another significant rain event in the next few days in the Pearl River basin, its going to get ugly.

Anonymous said...

@12:18
The forecast has next 10 days as either sunny or cloudy but no chance of precipitation over 20% (except for Thursday after next at 30%), but I barely trust a 5 day forecast much less a 15 day.

Anonymous said...

12:04, so glad you took the proactive steps of researching what a city can do to a river to keep it from flooding before making your stupid comment.

Wait...
What?
Never mind.

Anonymous said...

Flooded homes and businesses make my stomach hurt. We had minor flooding one time and it was awful. I bleed for these folks and know how difficult it is for Jackson, or the Pearl River Authority to address the problems of one of the worst months rainfall we have seen. IMO, there is no reasonable way to address 100 or 500 years rainfall months.

Not always, but most of the time, this type of flooding impacts folks with the least ability to move away from the flooding.

What a shame we don't have a 40 mile deep hole 100 miles wide to open some gates and drop the flood waters into. Would solve most flooding problems and provide a tremendous area for body disposal. Where is that darn sarcastic font when I need it?

Anonymous said...

There is still a hell of alot of water backed up in Leake and Neshoba counties. I passed through Edinburg about noon today and emergency vehicles are standing by. The water is touching the bottom of the bridge and inches from the roadway. Still rising. West of Carthage there is water visible from Hwy 16 and covering wide swaths of pasture land. At Hwy 488 and 35 South of Carthage there is flooding of buildings and water a mile back from the river. So, yes, reservoir officials know there is a lot of water to the north that must make its way into the rez. Not good. Hwy 16 from Carthage to Edinburg is now open after flood waters damaged the road and MDOT worked around the clock for several days to patch it. This is all north of the rez, so you can't blame them.

Anonymous said...

Oak Grove, Barnett Bend(s) ... bend over 'cause here it comes.

Anonymous said...

Federal Aid is on it way, all Tater got to do, is ask for it. If they say no. Just tell them what great job they are doing and they will throw the cash at them.

Anonymous said...

Is it me or have we had record rainfall a lot lately. I am not a climate change person, but I am starting to believe something is going on. Whether it is man made or not is the question.

Anonymous said...

Maybe this will get the One Lake project going.

Anonymous said...

It’s you. We had more rainfall 40 years ago and even more 70 years ago.

Anonymous said...

ONE LAKE!!!!!!!!

Anonymous said...

No, whether its man made is not a question. It's not even a debate. It's a multi billion dollar PR campaign modeled after the "there's a debate among doctors about whether cigarettes are bad for you" campaign. Congrats on your awakening. I've got some really bad news about where global temperatures are headed.

Anonymous said...

For reference, is this higher or lower than the crest a few weeks ago when we had some Jackson flooding? I can't keep up

Anonymous said...

They are raising the Rez to 299 feet. At 300, the emergency spillway begins to self destruct and will lower the Rez to 290, sending a wall of water downstream. You Jackson residents have a lot more faith in the government than I do. I’m sure it’ll be ok though, it hasn’t failed you yet, right?

Anonymous said...

1:29, according to the historical folks that keep track of this stuff, January 2020 is second to January 1979. And very similar to two January's in the 20's.

The issue in 1979 was the April flooding in the PR Basin, but the heavy rains in January made that situation turn into the disaster that it was.

But this is not climate change, this is climate. Truth is, climate is something that is always changing, and often repeats itself.

Do some of the 'climate change' promoters have some valid points? Certainly. But is the sky falling like they claim, and all the current weather patters are due to this 'change'? My opinion - not an expert and didn't even stay in a Holiday Inn last night, but it appears to me the answer is no.

Anonymous said...

The climate has been changing for 4.5 billion years.

Anonymous said...

PRVWSD wasted two days dicking around. There needs to be a formal inquiry and review. Totally unacceptable.

Anonymous said...

2:02, if that lake level reached 300' its all about to be one lake.

Lock & Load said...

Looting in 5, 4, 3, 2, Sunday... Keep your powder dry.

Cynical Sam said...

Algore has reported that the flooding will be caused by the glaciers melting in Tennessee.

Anonymous said...

@3:11
How has PRVWSD been "dicking around"? The reservoir has been drawn down over 3' because of the invasive weed problem for the last 2 months.

Anonymous said...

Lake level discussion has reduced meaning because carrying capacity of RBR less than 1979 or 1983. 40 years of abject failure from Mississippi political leadership.

Anonymous said...

All joking aside, this is what climate change looks like, y'all. This is the new normal, now that the jet stream has moved north and is sucking all the rain that should be going to Central America up here to Mississippi.

Wish me luck - I'm right on Moss Creek.

Anonymous said...

What is the current level of the rez?

Anonymous said...

Somebody needs to call Elizabeth Warren. If she doesn’t already have a plan for this, I am sure she can quickly come up with one.

Anonymous said...

Where do I gets my free $tuff from FEMA/MEMA?

Anonymous said...

Lock and load Belhaven and Fondren.

It's going to be NOLA 2005 all over again. The most Rankin can hope for is that the river tops all roads into Pearl and Flowood.

Otherwise you are going to get overwhelmed with buckwild looters and sideways shooters.

Bryan Bailey only has one AMRAP

Anonymous said...

*Cue the village idiots clamoring for OnE lAkE as if it will solve all our problems. We have 5 damn big lakes already in MS and they still cannot fix everything!

Anonymous said...

Lefleurs Bluff under water. See, aren’t you glad the Mayor didn’t relocate the zoo, he knew all along!

Anonymous said...

Can someone please explain how the one lake project would help this type flood event being down stream of the Rez when the levees are at bank full on both sides and high on all levees? I don’t see it.

Anonymous said...

Fingers should’ve pointing directly at the Corps of Engineers, the unreasonable environmentalists (the really radical ones who claim the 1967 redirected river is somehow a “pristine waterway”), and the levee board. It’s unconscionable that they’ve blocked all flood control measures for the last 35+ years! The reservoir was never intended to be a flood control mechanism. It was intended to be a water holding structure for the city of Jackson. Therefore, it was up to other projects to provide flood relief.

I’ve studied every iteration of the McGowan plans (two lakes, one lake, etc), and they make the most sense. By far. So, the time is NOW to get started with one of those flood control measures! There’s never a “perfect” solution to a problem,and you’re never going to please everyone, so for the sake of many residents of Hinds and Rankin counties, it’s time to quit talking and get building!

Anonymous said...

@3:11
How has PRVWSD been "dicking around"?


If you have to ask this question then you wouldn't know the answer if you heard it.

Anonymous said...

Did Jackson have flooding problems from the Pearl River "before" the Rez was built?

Wonder if the Pearl would be flooding Jackson right now if the Rez didn't exist, and all that rainfall entering the Pearl River up north flowed straight down the old Pearl River to Jackson without first being stockpiled in the Rez and then dumped in the Pearl again when the Rez cranks the spillway gates wide open? Don't know the answer, but seems like stockpiling water in the Rez, and then opening the spillway wide open periodically causes "flood events".

Louis LeFleur said...

Yes, 6:21 a.m., there was Pearl River flooding in Jackson before the RBR was built. Look up some of the old pictures of lower/west Capitol Street in the late 1800s and early 1900s. It was very common. Of course back then there was no northeast Jackson as such and, to bring up something that's been talked about since the '79 flood, that's also long before all the filling and construction in what is now the Flowood area, which worsens the flooding on the other (Jackson) side of the river. While the RBR was not built as a flood control structure, they've learned how to use it for that purpose as effectively as it can be used.

T. DiBiase said...

Maybe we can get a couple billion from the Feds so we can give more money to "religious wrestling ministries".

Retired Old White Guy said...

As usual, most of the comments here are total BS and just a waste of time and energy to even read. An occasional factual post or meaningful and measured debate would be a welcome change. I guess too many closet racists find the anonymity of this site easier than posting such tirades on Facebook. sad.



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