A little over a year ago, I made some posts regarding the record flooding occurring around the area of the country I was born in, Cairo, Illinois. I grew up right across the Ohio River in Kentucky but I was born in Cairo and spent a lot of my time there where my mother's family lived.
As the flood waters of the Mississippi rose last May, the Army Corp. of Engineers decided to implement a pre-determined plan to blow the river levees at strategic points along the Missouri side of the river in order to relieve the rising water levels and hence save the city of Cairo. This caused a huge backlash of protest from the Missouri farmers who would have areas of farmland wiped out by the floodwaters.
Cairo is a shell of the town it used to be but it is still home to about 2,000 people....mostly African-American and mostly impoverished. Missouri state rep., Steve Tilley (R), made some very hateful comments about the wisdom of wiping out crops in order to save the town which he later apologized for.
One of the claims by the Missouri farmers, who knew full well they were farming in an area that could be flooded if a situation like this arose, was that the flood waters would wipe their land out for 5 years or more. I called bullshit on that as soon as I read it. I grew up in that area and there were numerous areas of land that would flood one year and they were farmed the next. I made that point to Edtilla in the comment section of one of the posts:
Yesterday, I drove right through the Bird's Point area that was flooded by the levee breach last May. Here is a picture of an area of land that was flooded.
Crops (mostly soybeans and corn) growing as far as you could see...one year later. Looks like my ass is safe.
Those farmers probably pulled in a hefty insurance check for 2011 and they're right back in business for 2012.
It's amazing what propaganda people will use to justify capitalistic gain over basic human interests. These things should not be forgotten.
As the flood waters of the Mississippi rose last May, the Army Corp. of Engineers decided to implement a pre-determined plan to blow the river levees at strategic points along the Missouri side of the river in order to relieve the rising water levels and hence save the city of Cairo. This caused a huge backlash of protest from the Missouri farmers who would have areas of farmland wiped out by the floodwaters.
Cairo is a shell of the town it used to be but it is still home to about 2,000 people....mostly African-American and mostly impoverished. Missouri state rep., Steve Tilley (R), made some very hateful comments about the wisdom of wiping out crops in order to save the town which he later apologized for.
One of the claims by the Missouri farmers, who knew full well they were farming in an area that could be flooded if a situation like this arose, was that the flood waters would wipe their land out for 5 years or more. I called bullshit on that as soon as I read it. I grew up in that area and there were numerous areas of land that would flood one year and they were farmed the next. I made that point to Edtilla in the comment section of one of the posts:
They farmed it for 70 years and dodged the bullet and made loads o' cash off the land. The shit finally hit the fan and now they want to file a federal lawsuit because they lost 1 maybe 2 years of crop production. And don't tell me it will take 5 years to re-farm that land...that's horseshit, I know because I've seen it happen year after year right across the river from that land in Kentucky. That land will be re-sown next year...I bet my ass on it.Hell, in fact it's probably good for the land. I can remember marijuana growers would grow crops inside barges that had submerged in the spring floodwaters and were left with two to three feet of topsoil in them after the river subsided in the summer. The barges were a perfect hiding spot to grow weed and if it was found by authorities there was no way to associate it with a grower.
Yesterday, I drove right through the Bird's Point area that was flooded by the levee breach last May. Here is a picture of an area of land that was flooded.
Crops (mostly soybeans and corn) growing as far as you could see...one year later. Looks like my ass is safe.
Those farmers probably pulled in a hefty insurance check for 2011 and they're right back in business for 2012.
It's amazing what propaganda people will use to justify capitalistic gain over basic human interests. These things should not be forgotten.
3 comments:
Cape Girardeau County, across from Cairo, recieved $87.5 million in subsidies 1995-2011
http://farm.ewg.org/region.php?fips=29031&progcode=total&yr=2011
I've been a little obsessed with Cairo ever since I drove through it. It's such a strange little town. Great architecture, a real sense of place, but the people have the look of whipped dogs in their eyes. If I had to guess, I'd bet the sheriff is a racist prick and everybody knows everybody's business. Nonetheless, I'd love to explore all those great old abandoned buildings. I bet there's a ton of interesting stuff in the attics.
Random thoughts I had to share. Love me some Cairo, yes I do.
I've been a little obsessed with Cairo ever since I drove through it. It's such a strange little town. Great architecture, a real sense of place, but the people have the look of whipped dogs in their eyes. If I had to guess, I'd bet the sheriff is a racist prick and everybody knows everybody's business. Nonetheless, I'd love to explore all those great old abandoned buildings. I bet there's a ton of interesting stuff in the attics.
Random thoughts I had to share. Love me some Cairo, yes I do.
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