Mississippi River: Nation’s mightiest river looking more like a desert

Dredge Jadwin, a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers dredging vessel, powers south down the Mississippi River on Oct. 19 past Commerce, Mo. (Jeff Roberson/AP)

Revelation 16:9 “They were scorched by the fierce heat, and they cursed the name of God who had power over these plagues. They did not repent and give him glory.”

Important Takeaways:

  • What it looks like as drought strangles the mighty Mississippi
  • …the landscape that looked almost like desert. “You wouldn’t believe this is the Mississippi River.”
  • The nation’s mightiest, most mythic waterway has been strangled by months of dry conditions, which have sent water levels plummeting to historic lows.
  • For weeks now, that slow-moving crisis has made it difficult, if not impossible, to move barges down a river that serves as a highway for about 60 percent of the nation’s foreign-bound corn and soybeans.
  • Levels have sunk so low that many boat ramps don’t stretch down far enough to reach the water. Docks that usually float with ease sit tilted and grounded on riverbanks.
  • The Corps has had five vessels out on the river in recent weeks to conduct emergency dredging, needed when barges get stuck and the channel becomes impassable… Each time, the river channel is closed for at least 12 to 24 hours, further disrupting already slow barge traffic

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