What is the cost of the current flooding of the Mississippi basin? According to Michael J. Hicks, the director of the Center for Business and Economic Research at Ball State University in a recent NYT article, the damages from Memphis down to the Gulf range from between $6 and $9 billion. The flood is the worst the area has experienced since 1927. In some places, such as Lasalle Parish in Louisiana, river levels are the highest they’ve ever been, yet levee systems have prevented flooding from being as bad. If it were not for modern flood management systems such as the Morganza Spillway, water levels would be even higher in many areas. Regardless, the effects of the recent flooding have been economically devastating for many.
Already, between 2.1 million and 2.2 million acres in the delta region have been affected. This accounts for approximately 1 percent of all cropland in the US. The effects of the flooding expand even further than this, however. Barge shipping has been disrupted, unemployment is rampant in the area, and tourism is suffering. This is made worse by the fact that many of these areas are already suffering economically. Mississippi has the largest percentage of its population living below the poverty line compared to all of the other states and already has an unemployment rate of 10.2 percent, significantly higher than the national average of 8.7%. Many parts of Louisiana’s economy have just recently recovered from BP oil spill. Although it is unclear if the flooding in these states will get worse at this point, extensive damage to homes and businesses has already been done.
Charles B. Stockdale
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