Flooding

 Flood destruction comes from heavy snows up river.

Missouri River Flood Spring 2019

Saturday 16 March 2019

The boat ramp is out beyond the solar light pole.

Flood Recovery

This stand of Cottonwood trees have grown up since the 1993 flood along the Missouri river.

The land was formally farmland. After the flood the government took the land and allowed it to revert back to a natural wildlife area. The area is in the Big Muddy Wildlife area along the Missouri river.

Cottonwood trees do well in this wetland environment. You can see the work of beaver on a few trees that are showing whitish bark being chewed off by the beavers.

Growth comes to land after a flood disaster. The type of tree that seeds into a flooded area is a special type of tree that survives well in wet soil.

Christians also can bounce back after a disaster. The process of recovery is related to the type of problem they encounter. 

It says in 2 Corinthians 1:3-5 "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, 4 who comforts us in all our affliction so that we will be able to comfort those who are in any affliction with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. 5 For just as the sufferings of Christ are ours in abundance, so also our comfort is abundant through Christ."

God uses what Satan throws at us and turns it for our good and the good of others. Knowing this, we can look with expectancy for the good God will work in our life. Just as land managers expect nature to recover after a flood.

Flooded Black Willow

I decided to hike back into some woods today (31 Aug 2011)



A photo of the same area a year ago.

Here I am back at a Black willow stand of trees along the Missouri river. These trees have been in standing water for 3 months. There will be more of the same for a while.

One of the lessons I am learning from this is that we need to be able to withstand attacks against our ability to live in the spirit. Opposition will come, but will we stand in the midst of the opposition?

Each of us has the ability to withstand tests to our faith. They vary from person to person just as trees have different responses to attacks to their health.

Black willow can withstand flooding better than most trees. Prolonged flooding has been known to kill about 50% of the trees. It will be interesting to see how this stand of trees does to more than 3 months under water.

1 Corinthians 10:13
"No temptation has overtaken you but such as is common to man; and God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will provide the way of escape also, so that you will be able to endure it."

Flood Kill

I came upon this lake while riding the Katy Trail last September. In the past weeks there had been high water which is shown by the lack of plants along the lake shore. Also notice the tree that is suffering because of that high water.

Canada Geese On Flooded Missouri

These Canada Geese are at home on the flooded Missouri.




John 16:33
"These things I have spoken to you,
that in Me you may have peace.
In the world you have tribulation,
but take courage; I have overcome the world."

Survive Flooding

Black willow (most likely) in its element. High water and flooding.


Reading a report that listed trees that can survive flooding of more than one year.

These trees came from a study in the Missouri river and lower Mississippi river after the 1993 flood.

Water hickory
Pecan
Button brush
Swamp privet
Green ash
Water locust
Deciduous holly
Water elm
Overcup oak
Nuttall oak
Black willow
Bald cypress.

Job 27:18-20
" He has built his house like the spider’s web,
Or as a hut which the watchman has made.
He lies down rich, but never again;
He opens his eyes, and it is no longer.
Terrors overtake him like a flood;
A tempest steals him away in the night. "

Missouri River is Down

From what I can tell there is a 7 foot drop from the high water to the current Missouri river level.

Public Works had just finished cleaning up the area when I got there. You can still see the high water mark on the pavement and the dead grass above.



Psalm 3:1,2,3
"Many are rising up against me,
Many are saying of my soul,
There is no deliverance for him in God.
But You O Lord are a shield about me."

Mud Covered Turttle

During this flood season I came across this mud covered turtle. Notice you can't see the pattern on its back. This may mean the turtle has been through some flooded areas to get here. I am not far from the Missouri river which is about 20' above normal. The river is about 5 feet below the elevation of where I am standing.

Floods are never nice and they are not clean. Nothing is built by floods only devastation. But floods are predictable. They happen during times of rain. And they happen near rivers.

Do we protect ourselves against devastation? Or do we ignore the warnings and go full speed ahead?

Jesus has given us many words to live by in the Bible. I pray I don't completely ignore them.

Matthew 7:26,27
"Everyone who hears these words of Mine and does not act on them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. The rain fell, and floods came, and winds blew and slammed against that house; and it fell-and great was its fall."

Flood

Iowa has much more flooding but there are some signs of flooding along the Missouri river.
The boat ramp is to the left of the solar powered pole.

The brush out in the river marks the normal bank before flooding.



Job 27:20
" Terrors overtake him like a flood; A tempest steals him away in the night.

Missouri River Flood Projections

Here is a link to the Missouri river watershed flood projections.

Flooding

What causes flooding?
Obviously excess of rain will cause flooding. Rain over a period of time will cause the ground to be saturated. Then when more rain comes the ground can't soak up any moisture so the new rain runs off.

Building in the flood plain will cause flooding of course. People don't realize that the river won't always be at its normal low level. The river has different stages of flow. Drought, normal rain heavy rain excessive rain.

One thing to consider is how much is it raining upstream. All the rain in the watershed will come down the river at some point. Except for lakes and evaporation.

Building upstream will decrease the ability of the land to absorb water. Each parking lot, driveway and house was taken from the available acreage to absorb water. The water then that would have been held by the soil will now run off into the areas drainage system.

So a creek that at first, seemed like a peaceful creek and handled heavy rain easily will now be a raging tyrant in a slightly heavy rain because of the development upstream. People that have built houses by this picturesque stream now have a house next to an ugly monster during heavy rainfall.

Levies will hold flooding back. It will also allow the lowlands to be used. The problem with levies is they don't allow the low ground to store water to keep the flood manageable. Now when levies are in place the water that would have sat [stored] in low ground continues on down stream putting more pressure by increasing the flood potential down stream.

So it seems that flood protection works in moderate flood conditions but is counterproductive in high flood conditions. Now with levies, a 100 year flood event will occur more often then 100 years.

Instead of trying to protect against floods it is better to understand flooding as a part of life and not build in the flood plain. The flood plain should be used for nature and low cost recreational activities. Then after a flood these areas could be rebuilt such as ball diamonds, trails etc.

Missouri River After High Flood water

Here, some grass is growing where flood waters killed the vegetation earlier in the summer. Cottonwood trees are in the background. They can withstand saturated soil at times.

This photo shows the cracking of the dry soil of the river bed. This area is lower than the first photo.

As always, you can click on the photo for a larger view.

Missouri River May 9th 2007 Near Flood