Early this month, the Mississippi River, which is the largest in North America, had swelled in a level that it hasn’t reached in more than seven decades. The heavy rains triggered the river to push the water to its limits thereby causing flooding in several cities that are located along the river. It wreaked havoc in Mississippi, Tennessee, and Arkansas; damaging houses, businesses, and agriculture. But though this disastrous event has been likened to Hurricane Katrina, it didn’t take the lives of people as much as it did during this deadly 2005 natural disaster. In fact, the only death recorded so far within the state of Tennessee is 69-year-old Walter Cook, who died in downtown Vicksburg.
On May 10th, the water reached nearly 48 feet, cutting through the Memphis area, and consequently submerging the waterfront recreation center. Capt. John T. Lozier, a tourist riverboat, was even moved up to only a few feet away from where astonished onlookers were standing to take pictures of this unusual scene. But perhaps the reason why Memphis has not suffered the same fate as its neighbors is that it is situated high above the Mississippi River, and although thousands of people were sent to emergency shelters, the impact to local infrastructures have been minimal compared to other large-scale disasters that have hit the country over the last 20 years.
That’s not to say though that the damage is nominal, quite the opposite. Many homes and businesses have been completely destroyed, and due to the ruin of many offices and business establishments, a lot of workers lost their jobs. But perhaps the ones that are most affected by the flooding are the farmers, whose crops and livestock have been washed away, losing millions of dollars worth of earnings. But people who lived in the low-lying areas were prepared and were thus able to get out alive. So far, there have been 27 floodgates that were closed, which is something that’s never been done since the Great Mississippi Flood. Volunteers and the government have been working hard to keep everyone safe.
Amidst all these, Mayor A C Wharton is doing the best he can to put everything in perspective. He tells the public that even though Memphis has been hit by a terrible flood, only 20 miles are underwater, with most of the submerged area uninhabited. The community continues to pray and hold on to their faith, hoping that they can put all these behind them real soon.
