Memphis Prepares For Mississippi River Flooding
More than four million people—from Illinois to the Gulf of Mexico—are preparing for the worst floods in over 50 years coming from the almighty Mississippi River. Having already started to flow, the river will crest at a whopping 48 feet (that’s 14 feet above flood stage) late tonight in Memphis, Tennessee.
Over the weekend, Memphis city workers went door-to-door and got hundreds of people living in low-lying areas in the city’s south not protected by levees to leave ahead of the water deluge. According to the New York Daily News, water is already marching up Beale Street, the city’s famous musical mecca, forcing the evacuation of dozens of nightclubs and homes. Iconic tourist spots like Sun Studio and Graceland are said to be safe due to their respective downtown and inland locations.
“This water that we’re seeing coming by is moving 2 million cubic feet per second,” Col. Vernie Reichling of the Army Corps of Engineers said. “To use an analogy, in one second that water would fill up a football field 44 feet deep.”
Our thoughts and prayers go out to the residents of Memphis and surrounding areas.
