How long will we let ignorance rule why can we use our technology to avoid disasters?

Question

Amid the battle to hold back the swollen Mississippi River, some towns in northeastern Missouri and Illinois got an unwelcome surprise Saturday as river levels rose higher than projected. Flooding! Come on how many times does the Mississippi have to flood before we put canals and damns upstream to avoid disaster are we really this stupid!

Are we incapable of simply control water flow! The ancient romans could why can we?

Answer 1

Anyone who knowingly lives on a flood plain is asking for trouble.

Also a major issue is potential catastrophe made worse by flood defence schemes. No matter how high you build a levee or a dam there will eventually be a flood which overwhelms it. There's also the problem of flood defences breaking, if a levee breaks (as happened along the Mississippi in, I think, 1993 and in New Orleans) then:

1. Due to the increased height of the channel as a result of the  construction there is a larger amount of water.

2. The water is under pressure and causes more damage in the immediate surroundings.

It's not quite as simple as just building more and more flood defence structures.

Answer 2

1. Politicians are short sighted and motivated by appearances.

We rebuilt New Orleans where it's bound to be flooded again didn't we?.

BTW. Allowing the river to sek a new outlet instead of maintaining the existing one would change the gradient enough to help with some of the upstream problems.

2. The Romans never dealt with anything as big or complex as the Mississippi. (The channels are constantly changing so flow is difficult to predict, even if you know how much rain to expect, - which they didn't.)

Answer 3

Maybe the other side of the question is...why do people move into flood  prone areas..................

I can understand the rich at the hamptons, but muddy Ameica .........??????????????//

isn't there enough dry land available?