Neighbors of the Mississippi

Flooding along the Mississippi River and its tributaries causes substantial and often repetitive damages to transportation systems, critical facilities, residential, commercial/industrial, agricultural properties, and environmental features.

Transportation systems include roads, bridges, railroads, transit systems, ports and airports. They are critical to disaster response and recovery, as well as facilitating ongoing commerce. Damage to the system can leave portions of the affected counties isolated and at economic risk.

Critical facilities include public utility facilities, public buildings and structures, transportation facilities, pipeline companies, schools, hospitals, hazardous material facilities and emergency response facilities  and services.

Two examples of critical facilities located in the floodplain include the Ameren Sioux power plant located in the city limits of West Alton in Northeastern St. Charles County and the Duckett Creek sewage plant. The power plant supplies electric to St. Charles County and thousands of customers located across the Mississippi River in Illinois. There are eleven pipelines that run through the floodplain carrying various materials such as crude oil, ammonia, refined petroleum, natural gas, aviation fuel, fiber optic cables. The pipelines enter St. Charles County in the east at the confluence of the Mississippi and Missouri Rivers and continue westward to Warren County and northwest along the Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railroad into Lincoln County.

Other critical facilities are school districts. Clopton in Pike County, Lincoln County School District in Lincoln County and Orchard Farm in NE St. Charles County. Numerous fire and ambulance facilities are subject to flooding or experience great difficulty in providing services.

Many business, such as harbors, casinos, manufacturing companies, mills etc. and river cities who depend on tourism experience lost production times, declined sales, and inaccessibility, which costs business owners and associated cities thousands of dollars in revenue.

Environmental resource impact comes mainly from the hazardous materials leached from various inundated structures, or the velocity of the flow through topographic areas. Thousands of acres of land can be covered with thick layers of sand, or huge scour holes, loose vegetation due to a lack of oxygen and  a lack of wildlife due to loss of habitat and interrupted breeding cycles. In addition to the erosion of the rivers and tributaries, erosion of valuable topsoil can be a major problem.

A number of State and Federal agencies maintain open areas in the floodplain. The Army Corps of Engineers, Departments of Conservation and Natural Resources are the primary holders of public lands. These areas provide opportunities in the forms of hunting, fishing, nature outings, hiking and bicycling.