Dated Levees Could Place Lives Of Residents Near Mississippi River In Danger

Des Moines, IA (AHN) - The flooding of the Mississippi River has brought out to the open the fact that half of 31 levees between southern Iowa and St. Louis are dated and could no longer withstand the river's rampaging waters.

According to the Army Corps of Engineers the majority of the levees were build three decades ago, while some were as old as 6 decades.

With a National Weather Service forecast of more rains and higher waters on the river, the army engineers fear at least 18 of the levees would give way and this would result to worst flooding beyond what has already caused extensive damage to the area. Under a worst case scenario, some lands could be completely washed off the face of the map.

The dire forecast has led the Lincoln County Sheriff's Department to encourage residents in low lying areas to evacuate their homes for safer grounds.

By Thursday the mighty Mississippi River had made a 150-foot wide hole in one levee and sent gushing water to the city of Winfield in Missouri. Then the hole grew to 550 feet, which created two more holes at a nearby levee. Only an inner levee serves as thin protection between the river and Winfield, although by Thursday evening over 250 houses in the region were already under water.

Water had already gone beyond 20 levees along the Mississippi between Dubuque in Iowa and St. Louis in Missouri, drenching vast acres of agricultural land.

Scientists from the National Climatic Data Center blamed the more frequent and heavy downpours on climate change caused by increased concentration of heat-trapping gases.

Richard Moss, head of the World Wildlife Fund's climate program, warned, quoted by the New York Times, "We need to start making substantial reductions in emissions to minimize how much and how quickly the climate changes, and, just as importantly, we need to begin a serious program of national preparedness to respond to these increasing threats."