Nearly a year after the Army Corps of Engineers intentionally breached the Birds Point Levee in southeast Missouri, corps officials say the decision may have saved billions of dollars in damages.
But the Southeast Missourian reports farmers in the floodway are still reassessing the cost to them. The Food and Agriculture Research Policy Institute estimates crop losses alone amounted to $85-Million, and a broader economic impact exceeded $156-Million. The corps had authority to intentionally breach the levee to
relieve pressure from the flooding Mississippi River, in part to save nearby Cairo, IL.
The breach on May 2, 2011 flooded 130,000 acres of Missouri farmland. The corps says the decision prevented more than $112-Billion in damages along the Mississippi River and its tributaries.
