The Severed Cortex

Link: http://mo.water.usgs.gov/fact_sheets/fs-188-95-southard/report.pdf

The Mississippi River crested at almost 20 feet over flood stage. I was tied off to a tree above Lock 20 and had been for days. And by this time I had seen just about everything you can think of: dead livestock, propane tanks, remnants of boat docks, a surfboard, even two idiots in a canoe. I was bored out of my skull with only one TV station. I'd read everything on the boat by that time and had to resort to doing one of those jail house puzzle books. We were also running low on water and we had to reduce our showers to once every three days. Stinky.

Twenty years ago today, it was the drought of 1988. The river was continually shut down for lack of water and the Corps of Engineers was busy trying to dredge every shoal from Saint Louis to Memphis. I boarded the Torco Chicago north bound at Memphis and 60 plus days later I disembarked southbound at Memphis. I made one trip to Chicago, spent weeks tooling around the shit ditch from Lamont to O'Brien lock and bailed out just in time to wait every 30 miles for the Corps to dig a path. I think it took 30 days to get from St. Louis to Memphis. I believe that was the same trip spent pumping off oil barges in 30 degree weather in July. Only in Chicago.

And then today, the St. Louis gage is a foot over flood stage.