Re: Danger Zones Ten trouble spots you aren't already worried about.
- From: Jo Schaper <joschapern4ospam@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Fri, 18 Nov 2005 07:24:43 -0600
Alan wrote:
http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/13.11/start.html?pg=20
Flooding in the Upper Mississippi
When you try to contain a river, you're bound to spill some. The very qualities that made the banks of the Mississippi the perfect place to start a village also make it the worst place to build anything permanent. The river produces spectacular floods about once every 20 years, no matter what we do to stop it.
Likelihood: High. The last great floods were in 1993, so we're coming due.
People affected: 72 million - everyone in the Mississippi floodplain
Been there, done that, have the merit badge. But We didn't lose thousands of people. The river doesn't come up that fast. Actually, we get good floods about every 10 years, not 20. Yes, we are overdue.
St. Louis is NOT on the New Madrid Fault. It's 140 miles away for gosh sakes! The city and most of the suburbs (not all along the Missouri river, of course) is also built on bedrock, not loose alluvium, as is the case across the river, and in the Missouri bootheel (where the fault really is). The only thing in St. Louis in danger are the unreinforced historic brick homes--mostly 1 and 2 stories at most. Since 1990, (remember Iben Browning?) Missouri has made great strides in eq. building codes, education, etc..Earthquake in Missouri
In 1811, New Madrid, Missouri, saw the most powerful earthquake ever recorded in the lower 48; it rang church bells as far away as Boston. A large temblor along the fault line would hit St. Louis and Memphis, which lack effective earthquake building codes.
Likelihood: High. 90 percent chance of a magnitude 6 or 7 quake in the next 50 years.
People affected: 3.7 million
.
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