MEMPHIS,Tenn. — More than a hundred Corps of Engineers workers were in a “flood fight” Thursday.
But don’t worry, the Mississippi River wasn’t overflowing its banks.
It was part of a training exercise at the Corps Ensley Yard, that focused on how to handle a levee breach during flood conditions.
Sandbags are a staple in any high water emergency.
Thursday more than a hundred members of the Corps of Engineers got their chance to fill them during the training exercise.
“We hold it every couple of years that we don’t have significant flood within our District boundaries. Our District extends from Cairo, Illinois done to south of Helena, over to almost Jackson, Tennessee and then over half way to Little Rock,” said Steve Barry, Chief of Readiness and Contingency.
Barry said the last significant flooding was North of Memphis in 2013, but that was nothing like the historic flood of 2011.
He said the key to holding back the Mississippi’s flood water is a strong levee system.
“There’s going to be a flood in the future, we’re going to have flooding. And when that flooding happens we need to be prepared to react to it,” said Cory Williams, Chief of Geotechnical Engineering.
That’s why the refresher course including a classroom session, addressed every aspect of levee failure and erosion.
And how to cap small leaks called “sand boils” before they become bigger problems.
“A “sand boil” is an area on the protected side the levee that has had water seep up through and developed a channel that it can flow through. As it flows it can start removing foundation material from the levee,” said Barry.
He explained emergency workers build a ring of sandbags around the “sand boil” to keep the levee from eroding.
Williams told WREG there are 13-hundred miles of levees in the Corps Memphis District, all inspected once or even twice a year.
“We go out and make sure that people don’t build buildings on them, we make sure people excavate material out of them. That they are treated in a way that they provide the flood protection they were meant to,” said Williams.