Bridge, Phillips, Elam Drainage District News From the desk of Milton Sandy Jr
November 21, 2012
Vol 2012-7
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.
K-MART LAWSUIT and FENCES After the flood of May 2, 2010, I was convinced that lack of Flood Threat for November maintenance on the part of the City of Corinth in not keeping the drainage ditches clear was the major cause of the repetitive flooding that had occurred in the last 40 years or so in my immediate neighborhood along Elam Creek. I still believe this was the primary factor. But I've also learned that hydrology is a complicated subject and I've come to acknowledge there were many other factors involved. One of these factors is illustrated by the fence along the front of my property beside the old Federal Compress building directly across Fulton Drive from Kroger which our company has owned since 1987. I'm including a more detailed history of the building, unrelated to flooding, later in this newsletter. Between my late father and myself, we trace our roots in this neighborhood back to 1937. Our first experience with flooding was in 1972 when our offices on the East side of Elam Creek received about 1” of water. On 5/27/1991, our offices received about 3” of water after a reported rain of 10 1/2” inches. In both cases, I do not recall any damage to areas on the West side of Elam Creek in the area of Kroger and the Compress building. Specifically, in 1992 a picture of the fence adjoining the property was shown in a video I recently discovered of construction of the Kmart/Bruno's shopping center under construction. There was no sign of any damage to the fence at that time. This was before the old steam engine was put there in 1995.
5/10/1992 Fence in background across from Kroger parking lot under construction looking East
Contact: Milton Sandy Jr 662-286-6087 - Fax 287-4187 - E-mail mlsandy@tsixroads.com
Since construction of the Kmart/Bruno's (now Kroger) shopping center in 1992, this same fence has been knocked down or severely damaged twice in 2001, once in 2002, once in 2004 , once in 2010 and again in 2011- a total of 6 times.
10/15/2001 Compress Fence and road bed after flood of 10/12/2001
9/27/2002 Compress fence and roadbed after flood of 9/26/2002
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8/1/2004 Compress Fence and roadbed after flood of 7/31/2004
5/3/2010 Compress fence after flood of 5/2/2010 looking West towards Kroger parking lot Page 3/10
The roadbed visible in the first three of these pictures is part of the original Shady Grove gravel road which wound its way through the neighborhood before Hwy 72 and Fulton Drive ever came into the picture. After the flood of 2002, we had the gravel shown in the road bed replaced with larger 6 to 8” stone which I can now attest holds up to flooding much better. Only the small rock on top gets washed away. You'll notice a mound of gravel and crushed rock under and surrounding the old steam engine which like a sand bar has accumulated with each of these flooding events. We try to push and spread it back but you'll still see a mound underneath today. Many people have noticed that after the flood of May 2, 2010, the fence remained unrepaired until until this past August when I finally resolved to do it myself. I had gained considerable experience observing contractors repairing it 4 times previously and through the magic of the internet there are ample how-to instructions. One of my friends scolded me for doing such heavy work by myself (at my age) but I told him it was an exercise in “anger management” and I certainly did it at a leisurely pace.
8/14/2012 Fence damaged by flood of 5/2/2010 & 4/27/2011 being repaired Chain link fencing I learned is also known as “cyclone” or “hurricane” fencing because it is
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the only type of fencing, properly constructed, which can withstand a hurricane. It is interesting to me that something known to be able to withstand a hurricane can be flattened by flooding. Part of that is due to the overwhelming weight of water and the fact that the debris carried by flood waters blocks the chain link and causes overwhelming pressure on the fence. All of the pictures show debris lines indicating the height of the water which damaged the fence. One of the things about doing it myself was the opportunity to think about what has transpired in the past. As it turned out, I was able to straighten all but 3 posts which broke and had to be replaced. It occurred to me that rather than resist the water pressure it would be better to just let it through. So I decided to craft “break-away� sections to insert where the posts had broken and were to be replaced. I found that I had 2 old gate sections of fencing which I mounted on treated wood 5/4 x 6 fence boards and attached all the mounting hardware using nylon nuts to conventional metal hardware. My theory is that the nylon nut will be the weakest link if enough water pressure is applied and the gate sections will break free, releasing the restriction and let the water flow through, saving the rest of the fence. My hope is, of course, that this innovation will not be tested again but I'm documenting it so others in flood prone areas may consider it as a low cost mitigation practice for future consideration. It was a extremely low cost modification and unless you look for it in passing, may
Break-away fence sections mounted using metal bolts and nylon nuts Page 5/10
never notice my break-away fence sections.
11/21/2012 Repaired fence from flood damage of 5/2/2010 & 4/27/2011 Now that I've bored you senseless with all this information about fences, you may ask what has this to do with the Kmart lawsuit? Well, one of the allegations in the K-Mart lawsuit is that “The City contributed to the flood damages...through its use of land adjacent to...(Kmart) Store 4883 and in the flood plain as a landfill for dirt. The location of the topsoil dump site within the flood plain...reduced the size of the flood plain and the area available for water displacement..The displaced, rushing, and forceful water flow resulted in extensive flood damages to Store 4883.� What these pictures clearly show is there was, without question, displaced, rushing, and forceful water flow. But it began well before (as early as 2001) the city allowed the alleged dumping shown in our last newsletter. It also began long before Kroger ever applied for a LOMR which certainly didn't cause anything. It is clear to me that the displaced, rushing and forceful water flow started occurring regularly starting sometime after the flood of 1991. Certainly, you would think that the filling which occurred in the flood way and floodplain by the construction of the entire shopping center could be a major factor. Even that is subject to some questions which I'll explore in the next newsletter. It's all a question of drainage and hydrology, which I said before is a complicated topic. If you would like to take a look, the 1992 video I mentioned of the Kmart shopping center being constructed is posted on our website or on You Tube at:
http://youtu.be/bDW3Kc5x4Dw
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M.L.Sandy Lumber Sales Co., Inc. and the Old Compress Building M.L.Sandy, Sr., started M.L.Sandy Lumber Sales Co. in 1957. Mr. Sandy, Sr. had been employed by Corinth Planing Mill Company since shortly after arriving in Corinth from service in the Civil Conservation Corps (CCC’s) at Tishomingo State Park in 1937. Sandy Lumber Sales was incorporated in 1965. The company specialized in wholesale distribution of lumber and building products primarily in the Southeastern states with 4 distribution warehouses. A major acquisition of a portion of the plastic laminate distribution business of Consolidated Paper Company in 1983 led to formation of the CDI division of Sandy Lumber Sales which grew to become one of the largest distributors of cabinet supplies in the United States with an additional 9 distribution locations. During this time period, the company was regularly ranked on the Mississippi Business Journal’s list of 100 largest privately held companies in the state of Mississippi. The CDI division of the company was sold to Meyer International, a British company, in 1991. Sandy Lumber Sales discontinued warehousing and distribution operations in 2007 except for some continuing wood products brokerage operations. M.L.Sandy, Sr. sold the company to M.L.Sandy, Jr. in 1993 and retired from the business in 2005 at the age of 89. M.L.Sandy, Sr. passed away in February, 2009. The old Compress warehouse was acquired by Sandy Lumber Sales in 1987 and used primarily for wood storage. Historically, cotton had been stored there in highly compressed bales for later rail shipment to the ultimate destination. Most of the cotton stored there was subject to Federal loans and subsidized payments to farmers. Our warehouse was the smallest remaining warehouse building of an approximately five acre, 500,000 square foot complex last owned by the Federal Compress and Warehouse Company and was originally built in 1902 by John W. Taylor, a local banker, as the Corinth Compress Co. The remaining 1902 building was an entirely wood frame structure with 12” brick firewalls separating it from the other buildings in the complex, which had been demolished. An engineering marvel of wood construction, it covered the maximum surface area with the minimum amount of wood. Unfortunately, the unique zigzag design of the roof structure required constant maintenance and was damaged by a passing tornado in 1994. In 2005, the roof structure and 2 walls were torn down and replaced with an engineered steel building, which recycled the foundation and 2 of the original brick firewalls. All of Corinth, Mississippi’s history has been heavily influenced by the railroads located here. In 1861, at the time of the Civil War, Corinth was at the intersection of the two longest North/South, East/West railroads in existence. This militarily important intersection was less than a mile away from this old Compress Warehouse. Much of Corinth’s Civil War history can be traced to the strategic importance of that railroad junction. For nearly 100 years after the Civil War, cotton was still an important crop in Northeast Mississippi. Early photos show pictures of cotton bales awaiting shipment near Rubel’s
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Department Store at the intersection of Cruise and Fillmore Streets near the railroad intersection. In the upper floors of the buildings on the left, Corinth Woolen Mills (405 Cruise St.) was formed and operated until the headquarters was moved to St.Louis, Missouri and became the Curlee Clothing Company. The Curlee Clothing Company at the time of WWII was the largest manufacturer of men’s clothing in the world.
The old Compress Warehouse was centrally located in a thriving industrial, manufacturing and distribution district of the small railroad town of Corinth. A short distance away stood the Corinth Machinery Building dating from around 1869 which was built as a cotton factory. Economic turmoil and innovation was the norm during the late 1800’s and the building was used as a cotton mill and later on a woolen mill. Silk farming was briefly tried and mulberry trees are found throughout Corinth today which were planted to feed the silk worms. In the 1900’s the owners became famous in the lumber industry as manufacturers of sawmill carriages. The Corinth Machinery Building was until recently the oldest documented industrial building still standing in the state of Mississippi. Until it was demolished in early 2012, it was properly listed as one of Mississippi’s 10 most endangered historic sites. Page 8/10
To the immediate east of the old Compress Warehouse was a sprawling iron works known as the W.T.Adams Machine Works. Many of the historic buildings in downtown Corinth still have iron pilasters manufactured at that facility. Many street sewer hole covers were cast iron or bronze and bear the name of W.T.Adams. A prominent industrialist, the statue of Vulcan atop the mountain in downtown Birmingham, Alabama, bears his name. Most of the complex was destroyed by fire in 1906, with the sole exception of the large building on Tate Street next to the Alliance (Chamber of Commerce).
Directly across the street in the area now occupied by Kroger and K-Mart was a major cottonseed processing facility, Buckeye Cellulose, owned by Proctor & Gamble. This operation closed around 1987 around the time we acquired this warehouse. In the fall of every year, Corinthians remember the area for the wonderful smell of cottonseeds being roasted for the production of cottonseed oil. Originally, cottonseed oil had been produced primarily for Proctor & Gamble's new product, Crisco – used as a substitute for lard in cooking. In that same area in front of the Community Theater, across the street in the now vacant lot stood the fairgrounds which contained a baseball stadium, baseball field, and racetrack where harness horse races were held during the annual Fall Fair, every September. The area the old Compress Warehouse occupies was the site of military encampments during the Civil War because of its proximity to the railroads. Elam Creek located behind the warehouse is mentioned in many soldier’s journals during this war time period. The old Compress Warehouse until recently has been leased to Kimberly Clark for their warehousing of modern man-made fiber materials awaiting processing as part of their extensive recycle and reclaim operations. It is ironic that the modern KC man made fiber materials were largely stored in bales in this 21st century, very similar in appearance to the cotton bales stored in the original building for the largest part of the 20 th century.
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1930's era fork lift used to lift cotton bales
An average bale of cotton weighed over 500 poundsIt took a lot of muscle to move a bale manually
Op
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Corner of Fillmore and Cruise Streets in Downtown Corinth sometime prior to the great fire of December 1924 which destroyed the Opera House seen in the background