(Winfield) Missouri levee breaks (Friday morning) as flooding continues

[UpInArms]

Source: Reuters

CHICAGO (Reuters) - A levee near Winfield, Missouri, that was holding back the flood waters of the Mississippi River broke early Friday morning, said the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

The levee broke at its south end at 5:20 a.m. CDT (9:20 a.m. EDT) despite sandbagging to increase its height.

Officials said the levee, which protects about 3,000 acres (1,215 hectares) of agricultural land along with a few dozen homes, had been reinforced over the past week.

It was the 36th levee to be overtopped in the past 10 days or so along the Mississippi as the river swelled after torrential rains further north.

"The levee simply sustained water levels higher than it was designed for and for a much longer period of time than anyone had hoped," the Corps said in a statement.

"Water had already risen above the top of the levee as it was built and was on sandbags that were added to its top. The continuing saturation of the soil was the likely cause of this breakdown," it said, saying it had no further details.

The Midwest storms and torrential rains have killed 24 persons since late May. More than 38,000 people have been displaced from their homes, mostly in Iowa where 83 of 99 counties have been declared disaster areas.

Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/domesticNews/idUSN2738026120080627?sp=true

[BrklynLib at work]

1. How many of the deadly plagues have visited us so far during the reign of

prez shit-for-brains?

[Theres-a]

2. Another one?

How many does this make? Is it epic yet? Nary a peep on the teevee.

[jadesfire]

3. sadly

Last coverage I saw was the "human dipstick" coverage that the Daily Show did...

[Robbien]

4. Not only another one, this was reported to be the last levee standing

in Winfield county.

Televised reporting makes it hard to get a good idea of what is happening, almost as if the flooded midwest USA was a far away foreign country not worthy of pundit attention.

[ensho]

5. CNN's 6 a.m. show didn't even mention it or the stock mkt. fall

nt

[KoKo]

6. Seems news that affects our citizens is in lockdown. It's pretty much crime, celebrity and

electioneering spin.