For shrinking Mississippi River towns, frequent floods worsen fortunes

A child runs past an opening in the flood wall protecting downtown Hannibal, Mo., Wednesday, May 22, 2024. Along the Mississippi River, many towns have struggled economically. But flooding in many of these areas is driving even more people away. And it is getting worse as climate change makes these bad floods more common. )AP video by Jeff Roberson. Produced by Brittany Peterson)Along the Mississippi River, many towns have struggled economically.

“People just walk away from them,” Richter said. “The houses are condemned, they either got to be torn down or elevated. This much time has passed, there’s a lot of damage.” Many Mississippi River towns formed in the 19th century. Pulp and paper mills, chemical plants, coal operations and the metals industry grew up along the massive river that provided a cheap and easy way to move heavy things, said Colin Wellenkamp, executive director of the Mississippi River Cities and Towns Initiative.

Jeremy Porter, head of climate implications at First Street, said two types of flooding events tend to drive people to move: Frequent low-level flooding, and shocking events like the floods of 1993 and The timing was fortunate. In spring 1993, the Mississippi rose fast, and torrential summer rains sent it higher than even the monumental flood of 1973. But downtown stayed dry and open to tourists.

People enjoy ice cream outside a downtown business as a cyclist rides past Wednesday, May 22, 2024, in Hannibal, Mo. “Jumped up out of bed and was standing in water knee-deep beside the bed,” Allen, now 80, recalled. “That’s a rude awakening, I’ll tell you that.” After the 1993 flood, the Federal Emergency Management Agency offered buyouts to some facing severe flood risk. Recently, letters for a new round of voluntary buyouts went out.

Tom Silk lives next to a vacant lot that was once home to the church he attended and where he married. West Alton Mayor Willie Richter poses for a photo outside what remains of a flood-damaged and burned home Wednesday, May 22, 2024, in West Alton, Mo. Its population today is about 10% of peak. Retail and manufacturing are gone. For a long time, it didn’t have a grocery store. Most of the place is abandoned, with brick buildings cracked by growing trees.

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Takeaways from AP examination of flooding's effect along Mississippi RiverFlooding has pushed people out of their homes near the Mississippi River at a roughly 30% higher rate than the U.S. as a whole, according to data provided exclusively to The Associated Press by the risk analysis firm First Street
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For shrinking Mississippi River towns, frequent floods worsen fortunesFlooding has pushed people out of their homes near the Mississippi River at a roughly 30% higher rate than the U.S. as a whole, according to data provided exclusively to The Associated Press by the risk analysis firm First Street
Source: sdut - 🏆 5. / 95 Read more »