Mississippi's 13 locks and dams open to boaters

Star Tribune

Last update: July 3, 2008 - 11:26 PM

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FLOODING

Des Moines versus New Orleans ....what's the difference? When New Orleans flooded, it was touted by the media as a racist plan to … read more wipe out black people. Now that white people are getting flooded out, the media needs to investigate, right? But who? I heard a dimwit talking head on CNN yesterday say that this reminded him of New Orleans . How? Outside of being flooded the similarity stops there. There is no looting, no people wandering the streets looking for meanness, no grocery carts being shoved through the water carrying stolen big screen TVs, no people sitting on the tops of their houses waiting on the government to come and get them, or police abandoning their posts. There are no Iowans bitching how the government and George Bush is failing them. There is not one damn thing, other than water, that is similar to New Orleans . The streets in Des Moines are empty. People left when they were told to evacuate. They didn't whine, bitch or blame the government for the broken levees. They did what responsible people do in a crisis, they acted responsibly. The actions of the people of Des Moines only makes the actions of the people of New Orleans look like what it was.....people of several generations of dependency on government unable to depend upon themselves to save themselves. The upcoming elections will only serve to make that worse. Where are all of the Hollywood celebrities holding telethons asking for help in restoring Iowa and helping the folks affected by the floods? Where is all the media asking the tough questions about why the federal government hasn't solved the problem? Asking where the FEMA trucks (and trailers) are? Why isn't the Federal Government relocating Iowa people to free hotels in Chicago or better yet, Las Vegas,they'll have more fun? When will Spike Lee say that the Federal Government blew up the levees that failed in Des Moines? Where are Sean Penn and the Dixie Chicks? Where are all the looters stealing high-end tennis shoes and big screen television sets? When will we hear Governor Chet Culver say that he wants to rebuild a "vanilla" Iowa, because that's the way God wants it? Where is the hysterical 24/7 media coverage complete with reports of cannibalism? Where are the people declaring that George Bush hates white, rural people? Want to bet in 2 weeks, you will never hear about the Iowa flooding ever again? There is a difference.

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The flood-related closing of locks and dams along the Mississippi River bordering Illinois, Iowa and Missouri is doing more than leaving commercial barges near Winona treading water and waiting.

Now, with the July 4th holiday looming and recreational boat traffic about to surge, the operator of the locks and dams to the north is being deluged with calls from the public about what might be closed on this part of the river.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, St. Paul District, is declaring loud and clear: Its 13 locks are open for business.

St. Paul District spokesman Mark Davidson said Thursday that thousands of recreational boats will pass through the district's locks this weekend, stretching from the Upper St. Anthony Falls in Minneapolis to Guttenberg, Iowa. One of the most popular segments, Davidson said, is from Hastings to La Crosse, Wis.

He said as many as two dozen boats can go through a lock at one time.

PAUL WALSH

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