Topic ID #11661 - posted 5/19/2011 4:07 AM
Jennifer Palmer
Webmaster
Mississippi River Floods Threaten Historic Sites, Not Tourist Favorites
Jennifer Palmer
Webmaster
Floods Threaten Historic Sites, Not Tourist Favorites
by Liz Halloran
May 17, 2011
There has been good news over the past 24 hours for Baton Rouge and New Orleans.
Diversion of rising Mississippi River waters though the Morganza Spillway northwest of the cities and into the Atchafalaya River basin appears to have helped lower the chances that the urban areas will be swamped.
Major tourist attractions and historic sites seem likely to be spared, including a necklace of antebellum-era plantations along the Great River Road. A few, including the white-pillared Nottoway Plantation, posted assurances of their dryness online, along with photos of nearby levees keeping water contained.
But what's good for Plantation Country and the Big Easy has required sacrifice in the rural, swampy area west of the Mississippi. And the toll includes not just homes, displaced residents and the swamping of vast acres of cropland.
It also includes historic and archaeological sites that are likely to be underwater for weeks to come. And state officials are bracing for damage that the diverted water could wreak on those sites.
Read more here.
by Liz Halloran
May 17, 2011
There has been good news over the past 24 hours for Baton Rouge and New Orleans.
Diversion of rising Mississippi River waters though the Morganza Spillway northwest of the cities and into the Atchafalaya River basin appears to have helped lower the chances that the urban areas will be swamped.
Major tourist attractions and historic sites seem likely to be spared, including a necklace of antebellum-era plantations along the Great River Road. A few, including the white-pillared Nottoway Plantation, posted assurances of their dryness online, along with photos of nearby levees keeping water contained.
But what's good for Plantation Country and the Big Easy has required sacrifice in the rural, swampy area west of the Mississippi. And the toll includes not just homes, displaced residents and the swamping of vast acres of cropland.
It also includes historic and archaeological sites that are likely to be underwater for weeks to come. And state officials are bracing for damage that the diverted water could wreak on those sites.
Read more here.
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