Davenport, and flooding (reprise)

The Mississippi river is busy flooding again, and this time Davenport hasn't been as lucky as last time. A lot of basements are flooded, and a lot of people are upset (understandably). But this doesn't mean that the city's strategy is a failure, as some commentators suggest (consider the 6th comment down). Heavy rain will cause flooding. Simply put, there is a limit to how much water a river, or the ground, can accept in a limited amount of time.

Does this mean that Davenport's strategy is perfect? No, it doesn't. No doubt there are storm drains that should be cleaned out, realigned, or installed. No doubt, too, there are many changes that private property owners can make to make their properties more flood resilient, such as grading, decreasing the amount of ground that is paved over (dirt absorbs water, pavement repels it), or placing flood-incompatible property in elevated locations (several businesses in Davenport's flood plain have reserved their ground floor for parking and pedestrian space, placing offices in upper floors. When the waters come in, the ground level is free of flood-damage prone property.) Note how these strategies acknowledge the inevitability of a flood, and seek to work with nature, rather than to contain it.

For those who are not convinced, who still think that Davenport should hide behind a floodwall, I'll point out the plight of those who did. For instance:
* "'We had so much faith in those levees'"
* "The mighty Mississippi overflowed 90 percent of the levees in eastern Lincoln County"

And, remember that when a levee fails, it tends to do so catastrophically, with little warning and with devastating results. If your strategy is to anticipate the flood, you'll have cleared out long before the river threatens your life.