A slow-moving and soggy storm that has been dawdling in the Gulf of Mexico for days is expected to come ashore this weekend, bringing rainfall so heavy that officials say excessive flooding is all
The Arkansas Oil and Gas Commission on Tuesday proposed a permanent moratorium on disposal wells related to natural gas drilling in a 1,150-square-mile area in the center of the state. State scientists have found a highly suggestive link between the operation of these wells and a swarm of more than 1,220 earthquakes since early last fall, including a 4.7-magnitude quake in February.
When the Morganza spillway was opened on May 14, diverting an enormous volume of Mississippi River water to reduce pressure on levees downstream, the thousands of people living in the Atchafalaya River Basin were bracing for the worst.
Flood-estimate maps showed water reaching depths of up to 20 feet and pooling out into every part of the floodway within eight days.
As the crest moves steadily down the Mississippi River, unhurriedly receding in Memphis while sending its backwaters at a rapid clip across the farmland of the Mississippi Delta, officials from the Army Corps of Engineers on Thursday were coming close to making one of the most momentous decisions remaining on their list of flood-fighting options.
