DAILY CHRONICLE #23 VOL 11

HOWARD’S DAILY CHRONICLE

NUMBER 23 VOL 11

JUNE 23^RD 2008

WEATHER; HOT, HIGH HUMIDITY, 68/96 DEGREES

 

NOT A WHOLE LOT GOING ON TODAY, MOM WAS MOWING THE LAWN WHEN I WOKE UP AT 7:30! SHE CAME IN ABOUT 9:30 FOR BREAKFAST! AFTER THAT IT WAS TOO HOT TO GO OUT AND MOW ANY MORE SO WE WATCHED CNN WITH ALL THE REPORTS ABOUT THE FLOODING UP NORTH!

THAT’S A COMPLETELY DIFFERENT TYPE OF FLOODING THAN WHAT WE HAD LAST YEAR! WHAT THEY’RE GETTING UP THERE IS DUE TO A LACK OF PREPERATION BY THE GOVERNMENT TO PREPARE FOR THE HARD AND CONTINUED RAINS THEY GET AND THE MELTING OF THE SNOW PACK AND RIVERS GETTING OUT OF THEY’RE BANKS! WHO EVER HEARD OF EARTHEN LEVEES STOPPING WATER THAT COMES IN THE AMOUNTS THEY GET!

OUR FLOODING WAS DUE TO THE CORPS OF ENGINEERS IN TULSA, OKLAHOMA NOT KNOWING WHAT WAS HAPPENING DOWN HERE AT LAKE TEXOMA! I DOUBT IF ANYONE ON THE BOARD UP THERE EVEN KNOWS WHERE TEXOMA IS! THOSE WHO WERE AROUND WHEN IT WAS FORMED BY BLOCKING THE RED RIVER ARE DEAD AND GONE! THE ONES IN POWER NOW BELIEVE IN THEIR CHARTS AND SURVEYS NOT IN PERSONAL ON THE SPOT VIEWING OF THE SITUATION AND FROM WHAT I’VE HEARD WHEN TOLD OF THE SITUATION HERE AT TEXOMA SAID IT COULDN’T BE THAT BAD! THEY FOUND OUT WHEN THEY COULDN’T STOP THE RISE IN WATER THAT FINALLY WENT OVER THE SPILLWAY! LAKE TEXOMA IS AN EARTHEN DAM BUT IT HAS A 500+ FOOT WIDE BASE AND THE TOP IS 63 FEET ABOVE POWER POOL, FROM WHERE IT STARTS TO WHERE IT ENDS IS ALMOST 5 MILES! ITS MAIN PURPOSE WAS AND IS FLOOD CONTROL, THE MARINAS AROUND THE LAKE MUST FEND FOR THEMSELVES WHEN IT STARTS TO RISE! THE CORPS WILL TRY TO MAINTAIN A PROPER LEVEL BUT AFTER IT PASSES 639 FEET THEY CAN’T DO ANYTHING ABOUT IT! THEY CAN LET 100.000CUBIC FEET A SECOND OUT AND FLOOD DOWN STREAM FOR TWO MILES ON EITHER SIDE OF THE RED RIVER BUT, AT THE SAME TIME THERE IS USUALLY ABOUT 140.000 CUBIC FEET A SECOND COMING IN FROM THE UPPER END OF THE RED RIVER FROM MELTING SNOW AND RAIN RUN OFF!

UP NORTH THEY CAN’T DO ANYTHING EXCEPT HOPE THE SMALL LEVEES WILL HOLD WHICH THEY DON’T EVEN WHEN THE PEOPLE ALL GET TOGETHER AND FILL SAND BAGS AND PUT THEM IN STRATEGIC PLACES! THIS GOES ON EVERY YEAR THEN, IF YOU’RE NOT IN A KNOWN FLOOD PLAIN THE COST OF FLOOD INSURANCE IS TO HIGH FOR A “MAYBE IT WON’T RAIN VERY HARD THIS YEAR!”

MARK TWAIN SAID MANY YEARS AGO,”A RIVER IS GOING TO HAVE ITS WAY AND NO KNOWN ENGINEERING BY MAN WILL/CAN STOP IT!” THAT MIGHT HAVE BEEN TRUE THEN BUT NOW IS A DIFFERENT STORY! MAN DOES HAVE THE SKILLS AND THE WEAR-WITH-ALL TO PUT TOGETHER A MEANS TO KEEP RIVERS WITHIN THE CONFINES IT WANTS! IN 1939 LOS ANGELES SUFFERED ONE OF THE WORST DESASTERS IN ITS HISTORY, IT RAINED FOR MANY DAYS AND NIGHTS AND THE FLASH FLOODING WIPED OUT MOST OF THE TRUCK GARDENS BETWEEN THE MOUNTAINS THAT SURROUND THE SAN FERNANDO VALLEY AND THE PACIFIC OCEAN IT KILLED A LOT OF THE PEOPLE WHO RAN THOSE TRUCK GARDENS WHO WERE MOSTLY JAPANESE AND MEXICAN! I LIVED WITHIN TWO BLOCKS OF THE COURSE THE WATERS TOOK, THE STREET ONE BLOCK AWAY FROM OUR HOUSE WAS WASHED OUT TO 10-12 FEET DEEP FROM WHAT I REMEMBER, I WAS ONLY 9 AT THE TIME!

THE LOS ANGELES COUNTY BOARD OF DIRECTORS SAW THE WRITING ON THE WALL AND BUILT A CONCRETE AQUEDUCT 200 FEET WIDE AND WALLS 50 FEET HIGH FROM HANSEN DAM IN THE NORTH END OF THE SAN FERNANDO VALLEY TO EL SEGUNDO ON THE PACIFIC COAST! I’M SURE YOU HAVE SEEN THIS AQUEDUCT USED IN MOVIES AND IN TV SHOWS IT HAS A SMALL DRAINAGE DITCH DOWN THE MIDDLE AND AN 18 WHEELER CAN BE DRIVEN IN THE TUNNELS THAT BRING THE WATER FROM ALL PARTS OF LOS ANGELES! NO MORE FLOODING EXCEPT WHERE THE SEWER LINES GET PLUGGED WITH DEBRIS THAT HAS WASHED DOWN FROM HIGHER ELEVATIONS!

THIS KIND OF AQUEDUCT SHOULD BE BUILT FROM THE HEAD WATERS OF THE MISSISSIPPI AND MISSOURI RIVERS TO WHERE THEY JOIN AND THEN ON DOWN TO THE GULF OF MEXICO! ONLY NOT OUT OF CONCRETE BUT PLASTIC WALLS FILLED WITH OLD SHREDDED TIRES! AND THE CONCRETE TUNNELS THAT WOULD BRING THE WATER FROM MAJOR CITIES ALONG THE WAY TO THE GULF! ALSO A WAY TO ADD TO THE HEIGHT IN THE EVENT OF ADDITIONAL FLOODING NOT EXPECTED! PILINGS DRIVEN DOWN TO BED ROCK WOULD SUPPORT THESE WALLS! I WILL LEAVE ALL THE PARTICULARS UP TO THE ENGINEERS BUT AT LEAST IT’S A STARTING IDEA TO STOP THE TRILLIONS OF DOLLARS OF DAMAGE AND THE FAMILIES THESE FLOODS ARE RUINING!

 

THAT’S “30 FOR THIS ISSUE.

 

HOWARD