Coopwood: Life on the Mississippi

The news from my region of the state right now, the Mississippi Delta, is the Mississippi River is on the rise again and that is affecting property owners up and down the river. I am one of those who will be affected. To what extent, we are not sure, and there is even a small chance our cabin will miss the flood.

The rise and fall of the Mississippi River is nothing new … during the spring. However, in my lifetime, I have never seen the river reach these levels this time of the year.

Not only is this rise affecting people, it is delivering a significant impact to the wildlife. Deer find it challenging to find food this time of the year and this is stressful on the herd every January. Now, adding to that stress, deer are being forced out of their regular habitat that consists of thousands acres of large woods along the river and are being pushed into ditch banks and smaller woods on “this side” of the levee. Not good.

We on the Commission of Wildlife, Fisheries, and Parks are closely monitoring this situation and we have increased our game warden numbers in the Delta to make certain hunters obey the newly set regulations regarding deer season while the Mississippi is above 41 feet on the Helena gage.

Our property in Donaldson Point Hunting Club in western Bolivar County is some of the highest ground on the river in our county. In fact, our property flooded in 1973 and didn’t see one inch of water on it until 38 years later when the Mississippi River valley region was overcome with the flood waters of 2011 that broke several longstanding records. I didn’t think I would see another flood again of that magnitude in my life and while the current flood will not reach the levels of 2011, it will not be far off.

As I write this, the original crest has been amended and the forecast is being lowered by 1.5 feet and the National Weather Service has issued the following forecast: Arkansas City should reach 45.5 feet on January 12, the Greenville gage should read 57.5 on January 13, and Vicksburg should reach 52.5 feet on January 15. These numbers will not mean much to those who don’t follow the river or flood levels. However, for those who do, these revised numbers add a ray of hope that the current flood will not be as devastating as predicted earlier.

For review, historical highwaters on the Greenville Gage Crests have been:

1927 – 65.4’
1937 – 63.0’
1973 – 58.2’
2008 – 57.4’
2011 – 64.2’

To keep up with the Mississippi River flood levels, visit the web sites of the Mississippi Levee Board (www.msleveeboard.com) and the Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries, and Parks at (www.mdwfp.com).

“You cannot surprise an individual more than twice with the same marvel,” the famous writer, Mark Twain wrote in his book, Life On the Mississippi. An insightful quote by Twain. After this flood, those of us who own property up and down the Mississippi will not be surprised – ever again – about anything the Mississippi presents to us.

Scott Coopwood, a seventh generation Deltan, lives in Cleveland, Mississippi, with his wife Cindy and their three children. Scott is the publisher and owner of Delta Magazine, one of the South’s leading lifestyle publications, the Delta Business Journal, the first business publication in the Mississippi Delta; and Cleveland’s weekly newspaper, The Cleveland Current.

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