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Back to To the Point

To the Point

Has Flood Control Led to a False Sense of Security?

The Mississippi watershed is the world's third largest after the Amazon and the Congo.

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By Warren Olney • May 12, 2014 • 1 min read

The Mississippi watershed is the world's third largest after the Amazon and the Congo. Since record flooding in 1927, the Army Corps of Engineers has spent billions of dollars on an intricate 2000-mile system of levees, spillways and flood zones designed to allow homes, farms and industrial development to thrive along the river and its many tributaries. Now that system is being severely tested, as the Corps is faced with opening spillways to devastate some places in order to save others. At stake either way are homes, businesses, billions in property damage and entire communities. Is the river untamable after all? We hear from the Corps and its critics and from the Mayor of Vicksburg, Mississippi, one city that's bracing for a catastrophe.

  • https://images.ctfassets.net/2658fe8gbo8o/AvYox6VuEgcxpd20Xo9d3/769bca4fbf97bf022190f4813812c1e2/new-default.jpg?h=250

    Warren Olney

    former KCRW broadcaster

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    Christian Bordal

    Managing Producer, Greater LA

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    Katie Cooper

    Producer, 'One year Later'

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    Paul Winfield

    Mayor of Vicksburg

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    George 'Thatch' Shepard

    US Army Corps of Engineers

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    Michael Grunwald

    Politico magazine

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