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When a natural disaster causes widespread damage, it's difficult for the mind to comprehend just how much land has been affected.
As waters rise on the Mississippi River, we're seeing iReporters take to the skies to show us what's going on at different spots along the river and gauge the extent of the flooding.
Physician and pilot Stephen Gipson of Memphis, Tennessee, has been perplexed by the waters rushing through parts of town. His aerial images show how water has overflowed the river and rushed into places it shouldn't be. He shot one set of photos on May 5, and then sent another on May 9. By then, there was a lot more water to be seen. The photos revealed waterlogged homes, buildings and fields. Gipson says at the airport he took off from, the water table seemed high and he could see water coming up through some cracks in the ground.
We also heard from jairrami, another frequent-flying iReporter who shared images taken from a plane above Memphis. (He asked us not to share his name.) He says he's traveled through the region before and this time, the snaking river reached out much further from its banks.
"I've never really seen that much flowing through that area before," he said.
Further up the river, Tod Policandriotes, a scientist at Southern Illinois University Carbondale, went up with his pilot instructor friend to get a look at the scene below on May 8. As for what awaited him in the sky, Policandriotes says he was amazed at how much water was flowing through the Mississippi River. Upon departing from Carbondale, Illinois, he could get a good view of the flooding in Metropolis and the areas where levees were blown near Cairo.
“I saw massive flooding all along the Mississippi on both sides from Grand Tower to just below Cairo, Illinois, and in through Metropolis. Along the Ohio River, the flooding does not seem to be quite as bad, but it is still flooded in many areas. Where the levees were blown, near Cairo, water is spread as far as I could see on the Missouri side at 2,000 feet altitude.”
These up-high views give you a feel for what this flooding really means. If you've witnessed the Mississippi River flooding for yourself, we want to hear from you. Share your photos and videos with CNN iReport, and tell us your feelings and stories in the comments area below.
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It was sad
It would be interesting to see the before pictures for comparison.
Maybe the whole area is sinking below sea level again after several million years. Used to be part of the Gulf up to Nebraska.
Looks like rice fields.
One year ago we had the worst disaster in the Gulf of Mexico with the Oil spill. Perhaps this is the way the planet balances itself. How beneficial to the marine
life of the gulf is this flood?
Back in the early 60's there was a proposal to build a canal to west texas and maybe beyond. We could use that water easily here.
I just thing this is outragious i think they should get a giant sponge and soak up all the water
I thought they were going to get me high before we looked at the pictures :(
Take a look at the Missouri river. It is fed by up to 15 smaller rivers and the aggregate waterflow all goes into the Mississippi. If we could just build a few temporary resevoirs along the Platte and Snake Rivers alone we could reduce the waterflow rate at least temporarily. A resevoir could also double as a rice field I am sure. I can't believe with the Nuclear disaster in Japan that we couldn't get Japan to help us with this project, basically free rice for building a big swimming pool.
As usual, CNN has the most idiotic readers. Back to Fox News for some intelligence!
You build levees all up and down the river and this is what you get. This isn't an act of god, this is plain old stupid humans messing with something they don't understand.
I just wish they would do a little more coverage, I have a home on Eagle Lake in Mississippi that I had to leave 2 weeks ago, the local and national news is doing a crappy job at coverage and no one local will inform residents how our homes, towns or communities are doing. Every once in awhile we catch a glimpse of a photo. The local news is the WORST!!!
The Snake river flows west into the Columbia. It has nothing to do with the Mississippi flooding.
Higher food prices!
Terrible situation, and as others have said, in some ways as bad as the 1927 flood...
Our country is beset with problems - and likely more to come, both man-made and natural...
Of course we continue on per usual, hoping it will all go away - no way...
where is the epa and the environmentalist and the carbon tax people .where are they with the money and help for the flood victims .we paid them billions over the years even trillions .but they use the money live large and cant do a f/n thing to stop the global warming .so my thing is this why are we the people paying, are we stupid ,we are paying a tax to the epa to stop the global warming problems and they cant do a f/n thing to stop it .i say arrest them all for fraud.in fact people the solar panels are causing the rapid increase in temperatures .through the mirror effects of every solar panel .for every solar panel the temperature increases the same amount of its reflection .2x2 .this mirror effect is also a good source for ignition for the co2 in the clouds .with the increase of solar panels the storms and hurricanes will become more frequent and powerful .so epa now your f/n solar is causing the problem .i say abolish the epa and give the flood victims the money and lock these green con men up.or stop the storms with the money you collected .wake up people
I know I'm below sea level
Lynn in New Orleans