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The Great Flood of the Missouri River, 2011

Geico266

Geico266

Well Known Member
Pretty dramatic pictures if anyone is interested. I took these from the RV-12. The viability of the -12 makes for a fairly good photo platform, but I need to build a photo port!

I-29 near Omaha will be closed until August. :eek:

https://picasaweb.google.com/104592...verFloodOf2011?authkey=Gv1sRgCLLaoO7rm_qp1AE#

Be advised there are currently 2 TFR's between Omaha, NE and Gavin's Point Dam, SD.

Hamburg, IA had a levy breach and the town is being evacuated right now. This is a real disaster for the midwest that will last many years to come.
 
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That is unreal the amount of water flowing down that river. Here in Arkansas they are releasing 58,000 cubic feet of water per second from the Table Rock Dam and flooding everything in its path down stream.
Thanks for posting pictures.
 
DCat22 said:
Hmmm... I looked at all 70 or so a few hours ago. Now, no joy.
Click to expand...

I also saw them a couple of hours ago, now I get this...

Oops... there's nothing to see here. Either you do not have access to these photos, or they don't exist at this web address. Please contact the owner directly to gain access
 
rv9aviator said:
That is unreal the amount of water flowing down that river. Here in Arkansas they are releasing 58,000 cubic feet of water per second from the Table Rock Dam and flooding everything in its path down stream.
Thanks for posting pictures.
Click to expand...

The Army Corps of Engineers is currently releasing 150,000 cubic feet per second right now from Gavin's Poin Dam near Yankton, SD. That is 1,122,000 gallons per second. The water has to go somewhere. :eek:

I think Vans needs a float option for the -12. :rolleyes:
 
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Geico266 said:
I have gotten several calls and e-mails from news sources and others asking my permission to use the pictures. Help yourself, I cannot take compensation anyway! :rolleyes:
Click to expand...


Why not? Nobody hired you or the plane to go take some pictures.
 
We flew over some of that same area south of Omaha late last week on our way up to Minnesota Larry - didn't see as much of the river as you did, but what we did see was way out of the banks. The thunderstorms we were dodging obviously weren't helping things any....

Great pics - good mission!

Paul
 
They are also releasing water from the Garrison Dam in Central North Dakota. This is the first time the spillway was ever used, and the Dam was built in the 50's. They are headed towards 150,000 cfs by next week also.

Crazy stuff!! When did the interstate close? How long is the detour?
 
I-29 north of Omaha was closed in sections starting a couple days ago. I-29 down near the IA-MO border was closed today due to the levy breach near Hamburg, IA.

Bob
 
Extreme Weather 2011

We'd be glad to share some of that water. Where I live, we've had 0.3" of rain since October. Supposed to set another record of 105 degrees today, with the wind blowing 25-to-35 mph for what seems to be hundreth day in a row. So far, I have not found an "old timer" that has ever seen this before, either.

Nothing like a flood, I know, especially of this magnitude. My heart goes out to all affected.

Thanks for the pics, Larry. My brother lives in Omaha, and I'd like to send him a couple.
 
Great images, Larry.

The anxiety level is rising along with the Missouri River level in the St. Louis area. There are hundreds of airplanes based in the three flood plain airports of Creve Coeur, Spirit, and Smartt.

If the Monark Levy around Spirit fails, it will be local catastrophe. It did fail in 1993 leaving KSUS 8' under water and it was closed for months. The valley was nearly abandoned at that time but local political and development leaders convinced everyone the place could be made flood proof by improving the levy and by offering local tax incentives to rebuild. Today it is one of the largest strip malls in the country with every major retailer represented.

There's a lot on the line with the river rising as it is. If the Ft. Peck dam fails it could be a major catastrophe of unprecedented proportions for 1500 miles. Lets hope that dam, the type which has been condemned in California, holds.
 
Duffer said:
Hey, I'm all for it. If we could just get it to flow up hill.
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How about an airlift! :rolleyes:

I am not sure what is worse flooding or drought. I have been in both and neither are good. Somewhere in the middle would be great.
 
so what does 150,000 cu.ft./sec mean?

A acre of land with 1 foot of water is 43,560 cubic feet. At the rate of discharge of 150,000 cu.ft. per second, a 1/4 section of land (160 acres) would fill to a depth of 1 foot every 46 seconds. My dad in North Dakota did not really know how much that was, so I put it into terms he knew. Seems like a lot to me.

Dave Syvertson
 
dsyvert2 said:
A acre of land with 1 foot of water is 43,560 cubic feet. At the rate of discharge of 150,000 cu.ft. per second, a 1/4 section of land (160 acres) would fill to a depth of 1 foot every 46 seconds. My dad in North Dakota did not really know how much that was, so I put it into terms he knew. Seems like a lot to me.

Dave Syvertson
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I had to read your post, and check the facts 3 times. Wow. That is a lot of water, and they just started releasing this level today. The worst flooding is yet to come. :eek:

There is water standing in the parking lot of the new College World Series stadium. This is the first CWS played in the new field. Could be an interesting series this year.
 
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Hamburg, IA

I did some work for FEMA during the floods in 1993. I started at Hamburg and worked my way up the Missouri on the Iowa side. Some of the nicest folks I have ever met. I wish them well with this one.
 
More pics from Hamburg, IA going north.

Click on the link below. New pics start about half way through, below the dam pics.

https://picasaweb.google.com/104592539075472798431/TheGreatMissouriRiverFloodOf2011#

So far I have had 2 papers, 3 TV stations, and FOX news use them. Pretty cool.


BTW, from what I understand you must hold a commercial license to be compensated for taking pictures from the air, and you cannot use an experimental aircraft. We have a guy on our air field that is a professional aerial surveyor (Google Earth Type stuff) he was told to get a commercial license or stop.
 
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