Catastrophic flooding on the Mississippi in 1927 led to the long-term development of flood-control measures along the river. The Morganza Spillway was designed to divert water from the Mississippi into the Atchafalaya Basin in emergency situations, in order to prevent the inundation of the densely-populated cities to the south-east.

While the land on either side of the spillway is dry for much of the year, the Street View car gives us a clear view of what happens in the spring, with the entire area to the east of the highway under water.

Google’s standard satellite images give us a good idea of the extent of spring flooding, with different zoom levels showing cultivated farm land transformed to lake.

In addition to the two large sluice gates shown in the image at the top of this article, there are 125 smaller gates which allow precise management of water flow into the Spillway. In the only previous opening (in 1973), 42 of these gates were opened.

The process isn’t without controversy, as diverting water from one river to another can threaten communities in different areas – such as Morgan City in the heart of the Atchafalaya Basin, which is already surrounded by water on all sides. Generally the justification given is that smaller communities can be devastated to spare millions of people in other areas.

As with many recent crises, Google has quickly responded with updated imagery of the affected area. You can read more on the Google Earth Blog, and use the KML file provided to view updated imagery in Google Earth. The Crisis Response Team has also provided a page with marked locations of flooding, emergency shelters and more.

Activating the Morganza location on that last link reveals a low-resolution image of the water gushing through the open gates.

The Morganza Spillway is used so rarely because of an additional flood-control system further upstream which can manage flood situations in all but the worst years. While it is a newer development (it was built in 1963) it is somewhat confusingly named the Old River Control Structure.

Without this constant control, the Mississippi would gradually shift course and potentially affect the entire region.

The Wikipedia page about the Morganza Spillway has been comprehensively updated over the past couple of days, including links to videos and images on many news sites and anticipated flood scenarios from the Army Corps of Engineers who are managing the operation.

There are also many videos on YouTube showing the gates being opened, including a few that show large numbers of fish leaping from the turbulent waters.

Meanwhile in Canada, Winnipeg is again threatened by record high waters. We visited the Red River Floodway a couple of years ago. The city’s other river, the Assiniboine, is not protected in the same way so a dike has had to be cut to the west of the city.

Similar to the situation in Louisiana, this could potentially flood up to 150 homes and farms, while also saving many hundreds more downstream. The cut took place at the delightfully-named Hoop and Holler Bend.

The river looks so placid in the Street View image of the location of the cut, yet the CBC’s coverage gives you a sense of the dire situation that is unfolding.

Our thoughts are with everyone currently dealing with flood situations.

Locations: Louisiana, Manitoba / Categories: Buildings, Natural Landmarks, Shadows, Street Views, Structures

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Hurricane Katrina made landfall from the Gulf of Mexico, crossing and nearly obliterating the Chandeleur Islands as it surged water towards Lake Pontchartrain. The US Geological Survey estimated that 217 square miles (560 km2) of the islands eroded away into the sea during the hurricane season of 2005. Today, Chandeluer is said to only be a few years away from eroding completely, and its easy to see there is not much left by looking at Google’s most recent imagery.

Satellite views show some new construction where the levees breached of many of New Orleans canals. Here we can see the new wall on the 17th ST Canal and the London Ave Canal. Both sites were determined to have collapsed below their design thresholds leading in part to the massive flooding within the city.

Switching down to Street View it’s easy to see that the effects of Katrina are still clearly very visible. Keep in mind it’s hard to put an exact date for when the street view car visited New Orleans, but my best estimates narrow it down to late 2007/early 2008, so that would put these images somewhere between 2 and 3 years after the hurricane.

It’s quite humbling because you can really just drop the “Google Pegman” anywhere in the heart of New Orleans and see Katrina’s devastation. Some sites have been levelled to empty lots, and others appear to have remained untouched and have been reclaimed by nature.

A sharp contrast can be seen between places where trash and debris are still lining the streets, and other sites that look to have fully recovered with new construction and homes.

Many homes remain abandoned with the spray-painted “X sign” that emergency workers put after checking the property. The number on the bottom of the X indicated how many bodies were found inside the house. Fortunately, this home reads zero.

When Google visited New Orleans, many homeowners were still living in FEMA trailers that can be seen lining the streets. Some were fortunate enough to remain on their property, while others were moved to “trailer parks” scattered throughout the city.

It will be interesting to compare these images with Google’s next Street View update of New Orleans. When that happens, we will revisit some of these sites and see the progress of rebuilding this city.

For more information, check out Wikipedia’s article on Hurricane Katrina as well as GSS’s previous visits to the city.

Locations: Louisiana / Categories: Abandoned, Buildings, Street Views

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Each arm of the structures is 4km in length, making them longer than the Stanford Linear Accelerator Centre we visited some time ago here on Google Sightseeing, which is the longest building in the United States. However, the LIGO structures appear to be low concrete tunnels, so aren’t officially buildings.

The observatories are an attempt to detect cosmic gravitational waves, the existence of which was predicted by Einstein in 1916. Almost 100 years later, scientists are still searching for direct evidence of these waves which are thought to originate from supernovas and other astrophysical events.

The science involved is far beyond the comprehension of this writer (who failed high school physics) but here’s what I can figure out. Lasers housed in the main building at each complex (Livingston, Hanford) pass through ultra high vacuums housed in each of the tunnel arms and bounce back-and-forth on mirrors at the end of each arm a number of times.

Along the way they pass through interferometers before returning to the main building. If a gravitational wave happens to hit the Earth during this process, the laser beams will be out of step with each other, allowing the wave to be measured. The 3,002km distance between the observatories is equivalent to 10 milliseconds at the speed of light, which would allow triangulation of the source of any waves detected.

However, the measurements involved are so incredibly minuscule that the one of the main challenges faced by the scientists is learning how to distinguish actual wave measurements from random movements in the mirrors caused by minor earth tremors, vehicles on nearby roads, or (one assumes) something as simple as a mouse running over the concrete tube.

I’m totally out of my depth once I start reading about alteration of space-time, cosmic strings and other wonders, so if you want to learn more, Wikipedia is a good place to start, while the official LIGO site has options ‘for scientists’ and ‘for all’. There’s also an introductory video on Youtube.

Thanks to punk floyd, Joel Koerwer, Nicolas Ward and Rich Holmes.

Locations: Louisiana, Washington / Categories: Buildings, Structures, Weirdness

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Many places can claim to be haunted, but on every list you find a certain few that keep popping up. The Myrtles Plantation in St. Francisville, LA USA is one of these places, and is considered one of the most haunted locations in the United States. Built in 1794, the property is said to be the site of up to 10 different murders, and home of 12 resident ghosts. Visitors claim to hear footsteps going up and down the halls, see ghostly children running around the property, and even talk with the ghosts of slaves who ask about chores. Want to visit? Go ahead and book a room because it’s currently a thriving bed and breakfast.

Our second stop isn’t actually a specific location, but an entire country. With the rise of paranormal television shows and magazines, Singapore is quickly becoming known as a hotbed of activity for wannabe ghost hunters. Throughout the city there are numerous ghostly stories to be told. One location is said to be haunted by an entire family that committed suicide together. Another home in Changi Beach apparently is haunted by a ghost that likes to slap house guests across the face! It gets worse though… at the Bedok Tenant House, supposedly a ghost actually killed a woman. The victim went on to become a screaming ghost herself! Maybe that’s all just a bit to scary and you should just stay in the city. Well be careful when travelling on the subway, apparently there are headless ghosts that run through stations terrorising passengers!

Stop number three takes us to England and the infamous Tower of London. GSS visited the tower back in 2005, and the street view update has now given us the ground level perspective. The tower was built way back in the year 1078, so you know there are some creepy stories to be told. Guests claim to see numerous shadows replaying the violent murder of the Countess of Salisbury. She tried to run from her scheduled execution back in 1541, but was chased and then axed to death by her executioner. Others claim to see more legendary ghosts like the beheaded Ann Boleyn. She’s often seen by guests carrying her head in her hands around the property.

Back in the United States, the retired Queen Mary is often called the most haunted ship in the world. Now permanently docked in Long Beach as a hotel, this once luxury ocean liner has been the set for numerous movies and ghost hunting television programs from both the US and the UK. Visitors report being touched by invisible fingers in their room, hear banging and movements from throughout the ship, and even claim to hear a soldier calling for help from the engine room. Strangely enough, it just so happens that a soldier was crushed to death in there back in 1966.

Our last stop takes us to Scotland and to perhaps, the most haunted structure in the world. The site of the Edinburgh Castle has been occupied by man since the late Bronze Age, and the current castle has been dated back to 12th century. The structure sits atop a volcanic rock 80 meters high, with the steep cliff faces surrounding it visible from the street view car. Visitor’s stories range from tales of wandering war prisoners, headless drummers, and ghostly dogs. Some even claim to hear the tunes of a long-dead piper player coming from the castle’s ancient tunnels. Story goes that the piper discovered the tunnels a few hundred years ago, and was playing his tune so that people on the surface could hear him and map his progress. Well at one point the tunes stopped, and the piper was never found. Over two thousand years of history certainly mean the next time you visit the castle and its dungeons, you’re surely not to be alone.

Be sure to check Google for some more great ghost stories at each of these locations. Wikipedia offers great historical information on the Tower of London and Edinburgh Castle. If you’re brave enough, spend the night by booking a room at either the Queen Mary or Myrtle’s Plantation.

Special thanks goes out to Greg, Sergio, Will, Mike, Gareth, Jeff, Kate, Dave, Michele, Ron, Max, James, Ned, Robert, Terry, Boris, Benjamin, Matt, Paul, 7up7, Steve, and Larry for the suggestions and links!

Locations: California, England, Louisiana, Scotland, Singapore / Categories: Buildings, Other Vehicles, Structures, Towers, Weirdness

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On the morning of November 20th, 1980, a group of Texaco Fuel Company workers drilling the lake for oil inadvertently broke through the lake bed into the upper reaches of the Diamond Crystal Salt Mine below. The water began to pour rapidly into the cavern left by the mining process, and soon the expanding sinkhole had swallowed the entire lake, the drilling platform, and 11 barges¹!

Barges being pulled into the sinkhole

The suction that this sinkhole created was so powerful that it actually managed to reverse the flow of the Delcambre canal, a 12-mile-long waterway leading to the Gulf of Mexico. Once the lake itself had emptied, the inflow from this canal created a 50 m waterfall, the largest ever recorded in the state of Louisiana².

Miraculously, everyone in close proximity to the sinkhole as well as the 55 workers in the flooded mine were able to escape with their lives. 9 of the 11 barges even managed to “pop” back up to the surface once water pressure had equalised!

Though Texaco was never charged with negligence due to a complete lack of evidence³, the Diamond Salt Company still managed to walk away with $32 million in an out-of-court settlement. Needless to say, they never went back into the salt-mining business.

Thanks to Gerald Talley and Terry Foster. There’s more info on Lake Peigneur at Wikipedia.

Locations: Louisiana / Categories: Natural Landmarks, Weirdness

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Thankfully, you have been gamely notifying us of all the Vulcans you could find, and we have built up quite a collection. There are currently less than 20 survivors, mostly in the UK.

Firstly, at Southend Airport, the Avro XL426 was the 44th of the 88 delta-wing bombers that were built, and this one entered service in August, 1962.

Since 1986, this model has been taken under the wing of the Vulcan Restoration Trust, who dutifully care for the old bird, and occasionally taxi her up and down the runway to stretch her legs. According to submitter Mark, the best view is to be had from the train line that runs right beside the airport.

The XM603 sits rather forlorn at Woodford Airfield, near Manchester, the once gleaming paint tinting to a lifeless green hune.

Information on this one seems difficult to come by, but message board chatter from 2006 suggested that the relic was to be broken down to parts. In fact, her death only served to make others stronger, including the XH558! This photograph shows her final resting place.

Once the United Kingdom’s main deterrant against Cold War threat, armed with nuclear and, presumably, nerve pinch weaponry, the XL391 stands guard at Blackpool airport¹.

It was bought in 2004 on eBay for £15,102, but when the buyer realised he would have to pay another £20,000 to move it anywhere, they abandoned it where it was, sniff, scrapped in 2006.

If you live in the United States, there is one at Castle Air Museum in California, a roofed one at the Air and Space Museum in Nebraska² and finally one snuggled up next to a B-52 at Barksdale AFB, which also shows just how deceptively huge they are:

If you want to see the Vulcan flying, and happen to live near an airshow, there’s still a chance this year!

Thanks: Eddy Rhead, Adam Sadler, Steve Wrona, Tim and Mark

Locations: California, England, Louisiana, Nebraska / Categories: Aircraft

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It looks like they’re gathered around Joe’s House of Blues – and yet the giant red arrow outside clearly indicates they should be inside instead. So on the off chance Joe’s sound system isn’t all that loud, why else might all these people be hanging around outside?

Thanks to Joey.

Locations: Louisiana / Categories: Buildings, Crowds

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Then, in September of 2006, the images were updated with higher-resolution shots of the city – images which were pre-Katrina. Nobody really noticed until the March 2007 image update, and suddenly everyone was up in arms over Google’s disrespect for those who suffered. In response Google provided new, high resolution, post-Katrina images of New Orleans.

Outside the newly updated area you can still see some of the devastation Katrina wrought here, like this derailed train, or these flattened houses just over the border in Mississippi.

Inside the updated area however, the images are very high quality, and the first thing that caught our eye was this fantastic shot of an F-15 fighter coming in to land at the New Orleans Naval Air Station.

We also wondered what was going on on the Bonne Carre Spillway Bridge?

Thanks: 2468Scotty and C.P. McDill.

Locations: Louisiana, Mississippi / Categories: Aircraft, Bridges, Other Vehicles

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Thanks to James Bonnette

Locations: Louisiana / Categories: Structures, Weirdness

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Thanks to Sam Phillips.

Locations: Louisiana / Categories: Watercraft

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