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News & Journalist Article Critiques & Opinion
By Jonathan Ellis, USA TODAY
A house on Dave Reinschmidt's family farm is protected by a levee near Wagner, S.D., on Thursday.
Farms battle for survival against Mo. River flooding
The water came fast, in just a few days. Dave Reinschmidt and Barbara Yelverton, a brother and sister who have a farm south of Wagner, needed help just as fast.
Assistance came from unexpected sources - the Yankton Sioux Tribe and Lakeview Hutterite Colony. Now the two, joined by friends and volunteers, are in a fight to save two homes on a farm that's been in the family since 1950.
Two weeks ago, the farm was being hayed and the Missouri River was a comfortable half-mile away. Today the farm is under water. The only thing saving the homes are two dirt and sandbag berms reinforced with plastic. If the berms go, the houses go.
Water is now the enemy, and even rain has hampered efforts to heighten the berms by boat. Looming over the entire operation is the Fort Randall Dam, several miles upstream and hemorrhaging water, with larger releases coming.
The plight of cities along the Missouri River has been well documented. But beyond the cities, individual ranches and farms also are under threat throughout the Dakotas, Iowa and Nebraska. And they often don't have the resources that are available to save homes and property in populated areas.
Remembering 1952
Near Wagner, few are in as bad of shape as Reinschmidt and Yelverton. But conditions are expected to worsen. Water hasn't been this high since 1952, said Ed Soukup, who grew up on a nearby farm. The water has taken most of his fields and is advancing toward his barn and house, though Soukup is optimistic it won't get there.
"This is just unbelievable," he said. "I never thought it would happen again unless a dam broke."
A friend called Reinschmidt on May 27 with warnings about flooding. Reinschmidt worried, but a county official told him the water wouldn't reach him. That changed May 30. New elevation readings put the farm in harm's way.
He called a contractor friend, and by June 2 the berms were under way. Charles Mix County donated three truckloads of sand and sandbags and marshaled volunteers to help. The berms were finished June 5. That day also was key because the brother and sister plugged a culvert running under a road to help stem the flow of water into their front yard. They say that, initially, they had the consent of the county. But two days later, the county brought in a backhoe and unplugged the culvert. Officials told them they didn't want water running over the road, although Yelverton said officials conceded that water would run over the road with or without the culvert. Once the culvert was unplugged, the situation grew desperate.
"That's when we really got inundated," Yelverton said. "We had been holding on."
It was clear that the berms would need to be higher, but the county wouldn't help with a payloader. Reinschmidt called the Hutterites. About 40 volunteers showed up, and they also ended up bringing in sand and three large tractors. "They just worked like dogs," Reinschmidt said. Out of the blue, the Yankton Sioux Tribe brought in a payloader, though Reinschmidt and Yelverton aren't tribal members. The tribe also has helped with another boat, pumps and a generator.
'We're here to help'
Louis Golus Jr. and his son, Louis Golus III, stopped in Thursday to check on the situation. Both work for tribal emergency management. "You can't drive by somebody who needs help," Golus Jr. said. His son added: "Part of emergency management is we don't judge by race, creed or color. We're here to help." Reinschmidt and Yelverton said the county's decision to unplug the culvert made their situation precarious. It would have bought them time to continue strengthening their berms, but once unplugged, time ran out. Charles Mix County Commissioner Neil VonEschen said the commission never granted permission to plug the culvert. Water on one side of the road was a foot and a half higher than on the other side, and water was coming in fast from behind them. "It was all going to be the same level in a matter of time, anyway," he said.
Flood called 'cancer'
The fight continues. Reinschmidt said he's exhausted, and he calls the flood a "cancer." The experience also has shaken his trust in county and state governments. "I'm telling you, after what's happened the last two days, I'd much rather be under the tribe's jurisdiction than the county's jurisdiction," he said.
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Today is
U.S. Anti Flooding System
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U.S ANTI-FLOODING SYSTEM IS THE SOLUTION
The entire world suffers from mother nature events, and no one seems to have any suggestion as to how to minimize or mitidate the damages done by floodings, Hurricains, Forest Fires, or Droughts.
When these events take place, citizes run, and subsequently, come home to see the devistation of the events, which destroys a life time of memories, destroys a life time of possessions, leaving the average person feeling completely helpless.
Forest Fires in Colorado destroyed homes, lives, leaving nothing more than ashes behind.
It's these types of events that we can fight, or atleast, we can put in place, a system that can minimize damages and the degree of destruction that takes place when these types of huge events take place.
With the right type of plan in place, a drought condition should not ever exist, and no nation on earth ought to ever have issues with water for crops.
The Anti-Flooding System is simply a internal plumbing system that is on steriods, to the extent that millions of gallons of water can be moved short distances and long distances with the simple flip of a switch.
The System will be installed in all cities and all states and the type of skills necessary to build such a system can provide jobs for the non-technically minded people.
Jobs for every city, jobs for the poor, jobs for the struggling and non-educated, jobs that pays well and allows people to feel a sense of participating in life.
This Can Work.
This Article has been getting a lot of attention from a lot of visitors from around the world. The Idea of building a system of connecting tubes that can drain huge sums of water from area, and move that huge sum of water to another area of a city, state or country, is a physically accomplishable thing that can be implemented in all countries around the world.
To those who think that this idea is a idea worth discussing, please forward all comments to my email address: batiste.f@bteks.com.
I'm hoping that one state or country would be willing to take on this challenge to be used as a example for the rest of the world to follow, but, it must start somewhere, and ASKFMB would love to support this effort or help organize this huge global effort in some way.
U.S. Anti Flooding System
The U.S. Anti Flooding System is a system of "Above Ground and Below Ground" piping, used to drain excessive water from one area of a state or the country, forcing the huge sums of drained water to another area of the state or country.
The U.S. Anti Flooding System can be used for purposes such as this scenario of flooding, in that, as rivers start to reach flooding heights, the Anti Flooding System can be employed to initiate the draining of water from where ever the high rising water is occurring, then move that excessive water to another area of a the same state, or move the excessive amounts of water to other areas of the country that may be experiencing drought conditions or areas that anticipate possible huge forest fires and will require huge sums of water to assist with fighting huge forest fires.
Additionally, Sub-Systems can also be added to the Anti-Flooding System, designed as sprinkler systems for huge forest areas, allowing the prevention or assist with forest fires started as the result of lightening strikes. These sub-systems can be designed to be set off from far distances away, soaking the ground to mitigate the spreading of forest fires, meaning, the sparks that fly from one area to another that hit the ground can be doused with the sprinkler system, squashing the possibility of the spreading of forest fires.
Drought Prevention:
The U.S. Anti Flooding System can assist with drought conditions, such as the existing conditions that are currently in place in south eastern states. Scenarios like the flooding along the Mississippi River are perfect conditions for the use of the U.S. Anti Flooding System with respect to having a system that allows the huge sums of water along the mississippi river to be drained and moved to the cities along the south east, which stops the possible destruction of land and property as a result of flooding while assisting states that are experiencing drought conditions and the loss of crops.
There are needs for jobs within these contiguous United States, and by implementing, the first of it's kind, anti flooding system, we provide jobs for all the contiguous United States Citizens, we also set the precedence for an internal anti flooding system that can be admired and duplicated by all the countries around the world.
The Technology is available, the simple requirement of designing the correct type of anti flooding system, specifically designed for the type of terrain for each state, can be done, jobs can be generated, lives and property can be saved, and the U.S. can once again, lead within the field if infrastructure development.
Thus far this year, if the U.S. had a anti flooding system already in place, the floods along the mississippi could have save been mitigated while simultaneously assisting with fight of the existing huge forest fires that are destroying forests in Arizona. The Hurricane Season has just started, states along the coasts will ultimately have to deal with the affects of Hurricanes, but, with an anti flooding system in place, we can mitigate the damages suffered by the huge sums of water that destroy property as the result of Hurricanes by draining water, as the system moves onto land, and forcing the water to other areas of the state or country.
I'm sure there other reasons to have a anti flooding system, and I'm sure that once the U.S. Anti Flooding System is discussed and planned, all possible use for the U.S. Anti Flooding System will come to the forefront.
The Benefits of designing and implementing the U.S. Anti Flooding System will far out weigh the negatives with respect to the amount of money spent on the system. Each State will benefit by creating jobs for its citizens as well as providing jobs to maintain the system within each state.
In Conclusion:
It's my opinion that the first of it's kind, anti flooding system, for a country is best employed here in the U. S.. We just have to convince our government that having a U.S. Anti Flooding System is worth the effort.
In My Opinion
ASMFMB
6/8/11
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