Since I worked for the National Weather Service a number of years ago on precipitation studies for dams, I’ve been fascinated at how they operate and (sometimes) how they fail. This article from The Advocate describes the Old River Project on the Mississippi River, which is designed to help prevent the Mississippi River from changing course and flowing down the Atchafalaya River through Morgan City LA instead of through New Orleans as it does now. In 1973 it was nearly wiped out by a big flood on the Mississippi, and this article describes what might happen if it does in the next big flood. The article can be found here. I also recommend the book “The Control of Nature” by John McPhee, which describes the 1973 flood in more detail; it’s one of my favorite nonfiction books ever.
