To Breach or Not to Breach?- What are your thoughts?

I recently did a story for newsy.com on the breach of a Mississippi River levee near Cairo, Illinois. This was actually quite a challenging story for me because I am a Missourian, and on top of it, I'm from a farming community (not all that different from the Missourians in Mississippi County, MO). But in the end after learning the facts, I am certain that I would not want to be the one to order the decision either way. A couple of interesting side notes though- There were about 90 homes on the Missouri side that would most definitely be destroyed from the breach, as well as their livelihoods (their farms) so when the Cairo Mayor said it was a debate about "lives over land" it really came down to lives over lives. Also, I read a St. Louis Riverfront Times article that said the population in Cairo deteriorated 12.6 percent each decade for the past 60- totaling over 70 percent population loss. But I also see that the area that was flooded because of the breach had been deemed flood plains, so honestly, what did people expect? I used to live along the Missouri River and each time the river would rise, it would flood the town across the river from mine, making it a chore for people to get into my town (since the only other bridge was either in Hermann, MO or St. Charles, MO) but they, like those in Mississippi County, know that they live in a flood plain, and therefore, they must accept the challenges floods can bring, or move some place else. Either way, I really enjoyed writing this story and Christina did a great job anchoring it.


http://www.newsy.com/videos/missouri-dealt-blow-with-levee-breach

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