I wouldn't put a recreational boat on the Red River right now, not for love nor money.
The Town Talk has an article on the problem this morning. For non-local readers, the Red River drains most of north Texas and southern Oklahoma, then it continues southeast and comes through Shreveport and on to Alexandria, where it meets the Mississippi at a place we call Three Rivers.
There have been massive rains in Texas and Oklahoma. Our rainfall here is above-average and the Red River is swollen. It's not at flood stage, but all the locks are open and the river is flowing nicely.
Twenty or twenty five years ago I was helping a friend run a string of trot lines on the Red River in Natchitoches Parish. The river had not yet been locked and dammed and we were working trot lines along the sandbars in the river catching catfish. I happened to look over toward the main channel and watched a gigantic tree with it's root ball float past, headed downsteam. I asked my buddy about it and he said that the river would undercut big trees that stood along the bank. Occasionally one of those trees would lose to the river, topple in, and float downstream. If two or mote trees fell in together, they would move downstream together with the mass and momentum of a locomotive engine.
In short, getting run over by a root ball would be like getting run over by a train.
That is in addition to the increased current, other debris in the water, and the generalized danger of the Red River at full flow. It's not at flood stage yet, but it's handling all the water that it can handle. Boating on the Red is dangerous right now.
Besides, we in Central Louisiana are blessed with lakes. Here around Alexandria/Pineville, I count... a bunch of lakes. There is Buhlow, Valentine, Stuart, Iatt, Saline, Cleco, Cotile, Kincaid, and Indian Creek, just to name a few. There is plenty of lake water around Alexandria for every one to enjoy time on the water.
Let's be safe this Fourth and remember our friends and family overseas. FOr myself, I am cooking for family and friends and will be busy standing over the barbeque pit and drinking whiskey. Happy Fourth, everyone.
6 comments:
Happy Independence Day!
Just a note of useless information - the Red does not flow into the Mississippi.
Technically, saltfischer is correct. The Red flows into Old River, which way once the main channel of the Mississippi before the Corps started screwing with it. Nowadays, the Atchafalaya starts near there. If the Atchafalaya had its way, it would take the whole flow of the Mississippi River and would channel all that water past Morgan City, LA.
A what if - if the Old River Structure blew out, the Mississppi Changed course how far would salt water bake up the river bed of the old Mississippi?
"back" not bake
Another bit of useles information. Red River Landing is where the Red used to enter the Mississippi. The Old River Control Structure cut off Red River from the Mississippi but what was known as Red River Landing is still known as Red River Landing thought there is no Red River.
That area intriques me for some reason. Some stories have the Pearl River being a former channel of the Mississippi.
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