Like a lot of us, I've been following the flood advisories all along the Missouri River this month. There's a lot of blame thrown down over the static water levels appropriate for each reservoir, the failings of the FEMA Flood Insurance program, sandbagging and engineering controls being insufficient, etc. For some reason all the rhetoric and aerial photographs on CNN were sitting like a stomach ache with me.
Finally, today, I came across a quote from the US Army Corps of Engineers that made more sense to me than anything else, "All rivers, streams, and lakes will flood eventually. There are no exceptions. Given enough time, any levee will eventually be overtopped or damaged by a flood that exceeds the levee’s capacity."
The design engineering at work does it's best against a formidable opponent. We can grab every media outlet available, blame whomever we choose or talk however long we want to, but the rain continues and the water rises to remind us that this planet is a place we occupy rather than control. Photo ready, camera rolling or not it provides some of the most powerfully humbling experiences any of us will ever have.
My heart goes out to those who brace themselves and their homes at the water's edge.
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