Corps of Engineers Fighting Floods on Area Rivers

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has been helping with the flood fight in our area.

On Thursday, a three-person team from the Louisville District came to Smithland to construct a temporary flood wall on Front Street, which is along the Ohio River. The two-foot-tall sandbag wall was built using an automated sandbag machine, which can fill up to 500 sandbags per hour.

Meanwhile, workers from the Memphis District are in Cairo, working with local officials to install and operate a high-capacity pump at Cottonwood Slough between Urbandale and Mound City. The 16-inch pump and piping are removing interior water from the protected side of the levee and into the Ohio River.

Memphis crews have also been working to help control seepage at a levee on the Mississippi River between Hickman, Kentucky and Dyersburg, Tennessee. The seepage was causing sand boils, which can weaken the soil and potentially cause a breech in the levee. 

Also on Thursday, the Corps of Engineers announced that all traffic on the Ohio River at Smithland Dam had been stopped due to high water levels.