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View Full Version : We May Need To Rethink Levee Constuction



crashdive123
06-27-2008, 06:58 PM
We can put a man on the moon. We are taking ice samples on Mars. You’d think that we could handle a muskrat. http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/weather/06/27/floods/index.html

Rick
06-27-2008, 08:41 PM
I would have to think that in some muskrat bar a couple of muskrats are laying down some tall tales over cool brews.

"And then it was like WHAM! The whole levee gave way."

"We dug on that thing for a week. Ya'll shoulda been there. It was a lot of work..."

"Yup. But it was worth it just watchin' that water gush through there and all them humans runnin' for their lives."

(Group laughing and slapping the table)

Sam Reeves
06-27-2008, 09:00 PM
You would think that those things would at least be reinforced with some kind of wire mesh. I had a dog that keep digging his way out of the fence. I buried some chicken wire along the inside perimeter of the fence. He didn't get out anymore. :cool:

bulrush
06-30-2008, 08:23 AM
Yep. That's how I keep groundhogs out of my garden. Bury chicken wire down to 10 inches below the surface.

TrappinGal
07-10-2008, 06:49 AM
i bet there will be alot more people trapping muskrats there this year.

RobertRogers
07-10-2008, 08:32 AM
I hate to say it, but if you need a levee in order to live on a piece of land then maybe you really shouldn't be living on that piece of land. And if the place floods, well, what does one expect?

TrappinGal
07-10-2008, 08:53 AM
i think the same way about people chosing to live in hurricane zone then expecting the govt to bail them out when their vacation homes get destroyed time and time again..or when tornadoes ruin their homes time and time again. maybe people just arent meant to live there?

Rick
07-10-2008, 09:51 AM
The folks in Holland are going to be really upset to hear that about levees....:D

trax
07-10-2008, 12:41 PM
The folks in Holland are going to be really upset to hear that about levees....:D

Yeah, well that's what they get for skating around with their fingers in dykes.

crashdive123
07-10-2008, 02:38 PM
Ummmm....nope. Never mind.

Chris
07-10-2008, 02:53 PM
I hate to say it, but if you need a levee in order to live on a piece of land then maybe you really shouldn't be living on that piece of land. And if the place floods, well, what does one expect?
Bingo.

Bailouts should be 1 time only.

You sell your land to the government and move elsewhere with the money, OR, no money for you.

Really though too, it is possible to avoid certain things. I cannot fathom why people in tornado alley build with wood still. Reinforced concrete homes are not that much more expensive, you'll save a bundle on heating & cooling & insurance, and they can tolerate wind speeds a hundredmph higher than what a wood frame building can.

trax
07-10-2008, 03:21 PM
Ummmm....nope. Never mind.

good answer.

About the bailouts, yeah. I remember the huge flood of the Red River in Winnipeg back in '97 and all the homeowners were crying the blues to the govt for a handout. My question was, "what did they think would happen when they built their houses on a riverbank?" Of course they got their money, the dozen or so reserves up north that had their lands and way of life destroyed by Manitoba Hydro flooding them had to fight for 30 years and never received really fair compensation.

trax
07-15-2008, 11:31 AM
Yep, in the wild lives are lost at the water hole, except in the wild, the survivors don't sit around whining for someone to compensate them for their loss.

We can certainly live near water (we've been doing so since the dawn of time no doubt, as you point out) but it still doesn't make sense to me to put a high six figure or seven figure home so close to the river's edge, for aesthetic purposes only, that you lose your home when the river eats it's banks, because eventually the river's going to do just that. And when it does, why do you have the right to go crying to your federal government for a bailout that your own insurance company won't provide?

trax
07-15-2008, 12:22 PM
I agree absolutely, about both the protocols we have established and the impeccable nature of, well, nature. The protocol that the wealthy will continue to take care of the wealthy is certainly not a new one, nor one that even comes close to surprising me or making me angry. I was just making a commentary, if I was going to start getting angry over the behavior of my fellow man, I'd be snorting around stomping mad all the time. Not much gets me angry.

Rick
07-15-2008, 01:48 PM
I could not be mad at a mountain lion for jumping on my back

Well I certainly could and would! What right does a mountain lion have to jump on my back instead of...say....yours. You're tall than me. You'd make a much more filling meal. I would be old and stingy. It would only make sense for him to go after you and leave me the heck alone. So if he did choose me I'd be more than a little miffed about the whole thing. On the off chance that I run into a mountain lion that is ready to pounce, I'll give him (her) your name.

trax
07-15-2008, 01:59 PM
Well, odds are the lion would be jumping on your back instead of Remy's because Remy's aware of that old adage that originally applied to bears, but I think is relevant to mountain lions too "Don't have to run faster than the lion, just have to run faster than Rick"

Besides, mountain lions just plain don't like you (My pick on Rick shot for the day:))

Rick
07-15-2008, 02:08 PM
But! Mountain lions generally jump from big rocks down onto people (I've seen happen on cowboy shows so I know!) and he wouldn't have so far to jump on Remy. He'd probably need a parachute for me.

crashdive123
07-15-2008, 02:11 PM
When you're in mountain lion territory just remember that movie - Crouching Mountain Lion, Hidden Scaredy Cat.

trax
07-15-2008, 02:13 PM
Gentlemen, the flaw in both those lines of thinking is: the lion doesn't care as long as it's got something to land on

and: mountain lions just don't like Rick :D

Rick
07-15-2008, 02:14 PM
There you go!

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