Bridge, Phillips, Elam Drainage District News From the desk of Milton Sandy Jr
July 2, 2011
Vol 2011-7
This newsletter is directed to friends and supporters of our efforts to get something done about the repetitive flooding in Corinth and Alcorn County which on May 2, 2010, caused loss of life, public and private property and threatened public health and safety by the massive release of raw sewage into flood waters. If you have news, questions or comments, please fire away.
Rainfall – Tuesday, June 28, 2011 Flood Threat for July Wasn't planning a newsletter this week because of the upcoming July 4th activities (hope you have a safe holiday!), but everyone is talking about the rainfall and flooding on Tuesday, April 28 th, 2011. I was out of town that morning and didn't get back until around 2:30 in the afternoon. I drove around town and have been checking out reports from others who were here the whole time. First, we need to look at the daily data. The newspaper quotes Mike Baird's weather station which recorded 3.15” inches of rain. The airport weather station recorded 1.92” of rain- mostly within around an hour and forty minutes- from about 9 am to 10:40 pm. Fred Reiselt recorded around 3.06”. The new USACOE river gage station on Hwy 72 over the Tuscumbia recorded 3.20”. Finally, Doug Mitchell's Corinth station on Hwy 2 on the way to Kossuth recorded 1.10”. So it is highly probable that areas of Corinth received around 3” of rain within around 2 hours. This would amount to around
1,415,743,214 gallons of water within the corporate limits of Corinth, Mississippi. Using my average size swimming pool example, this is enough water to fill up 64,119 swimming pools in under 2 hours. Source: Corinth Airport Weather Station 6/28/2011 This is an example of a daily rainfall that wouldn't make the cut in the record book for all-time high rainfall in 110 years of data because although it was a lot of rain in intensity, the total amount was not that high for a 24 hour period. As a result, most of the flooding reports were not in areas that flooded Contact: Milton Sandy Jr 662-286-6087 - Fax 287-4187 - E-mail mlsandy@tsixroads.com
last May 2, 2010, which were associated with the main canals but were, instead, associated with localized areas where culverts, gutters, and side ditches are too small to handle such an enormous rainfall intensity event. The problems are most severe where culverts have been buried underground and you cannot fully assess the extent of the problem. Other problems were associated with drains that are level with the ground and become rapidly blocked with debris and trash in the flood waters. Once again as illustrated in photos in the Daily Corinthian, public health and safety was endangered when storm water infiltrates the sewer system and sewers are flushed into the streets and private property as illustrated by the floating sewer lids. The two most severe flooding areas that I have been informed of are on Polk Street near Shiloh Road and on Shiloh Road from the BP Service Station to its intersection with Phillips Creek near B&R Drug. Both of these areas need more extensive engineering study because of the underground culvert issues. While I would hope to get these long-suffering people some relief, I would remind everyone that unless the main canals are cleaned out, the problem will only get worse elsewhere if these problems are fixed before the main canals. You have to go forward with a plan and it is helpful to do it as Corinth Nursery- 1524 Polk St. near Shiloh Rd. 6/28/2011 fast as possible. Some of the flooded areas were surprising to me- Ann's Dress Shop on Shiloh Road appears to be on a hill across from the BP station on Shiloh Road and would be in an area most people would say “they don't need flood insurance- they're on a hill�. Unfortunately everybody may be downhill from someone else and in a high enough intensity rain, may be subject to flooding. Ann's Dress Shop- near corner Shiloh Rd & North Parkway Page 2/3
Local Wildlife We haven't seen anything of the black bear spotted in the county, but we did spot a couple of interesting creatures after the rainfall on Tuesday. My wife's sharp eyes caught this unusual bird sitting on a limb along Elam Creek fishing for its dinner. After some searching on the web, Stephanie identified the bird as a Green Heron (Butorides virescens) The Green Heron is one of the few tool-using birds. It commonly drops bait onto the surface of the water and grabs the small fish that are attracted. It uses a variety of baits and lures, including crusts of bread, insects, earthworms, twigs, or feathers. This bird is much smaller than its cousins, the Great Blue Herons that we have previously spotted at several spots on Elam and Bridge Creeks. The other creature we spotted floating
Green Heron (Butorides virescens) 6/28/2011
Brown water snake, Elam Creek at Mitchell St Bridge 6/28/2011
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downstream while desperately trying to swim upstream in Elam Creek was a large black snake around 5 feet in length. A trusted engineering adviser, Robert Scott IV who has seen more snakes in his lifetime (including his bad dreams) than the entire population of Corinth, says that it is a common brown water snake (nerodia taxispilota) sometimes called the false cottonmouth. He further informed me that it could be a “non-false� cottonmouth which can only be determined by closer inspection. We passed on that.