Homemade levee saves Arkansas home from flooding in 2011
Thursday, 13 Mar 2025
Exclusive insights, data, and analysis for financial market experts.
Search
Have an existing account?
Sign In
Dam that’s interesting
They should get a discount on their homeowners insurance
Someone owns some heavy equipment. That definitely wasn’t a quick throw together.
Imagine if we got him on an ama
Must have a gate valve on the septic system to keep out back flow?
The pride one would feel in accomplishing that must be unreal. And then guilt about every single other person in your town not. What a rollercoaster.
Beach front property 🤑
Looks like they even had a water pump set up right there on the right (i think that’s what that is I can’t tell) to pump out water that did get inside. Smart af
I lived through this and lost my home. I was also on my county’s emergency response to this disaster as I was working fire/EMS at that time.
The flood water almost came back as bad in 2017, but thankfully, it did not rise as high. My cousin did this. Dug a large moat and levee around his home. During the digging, he cut the septic so it could not back feed. I tried a different method that was ultimately unsuccessful. I ran out of time. Flood water ended up knee-deep in my home.
It was a terrible tragedy and a very strange series of events that led to this. There was no rain, and this was not a flash flood. This happened in the spring as a result of a freak combination of incompetence and natural circumstances.
The US Corp of engineers uses dams along the waterways of the US to create buffers to control flooding from heavy rains and snow melt. For several years leading up to this, certain groups had pressured the Corp to leave lake levels high through the winter. Record snowfall that winter led to more meltoff than the dams could absorb. Rather than risking the dams bursting, the Corp was forced to let too much water out. Despite no rain in the flooded area, a slow rising flood overtook many areas of the delta. Also, in my area, the Corp attempted to raise a flood levee to block water to the eastern side of the White River. This had the unintended consequence of raising the water level on the west side of the river.
So, hundreds of homes that weren’t in a flood zone (and still aren’t) were damaged without a drop of rain.
Source: I still live in Prairie county, Arkansas, and lived in Des Arc in 2011 when this happened. I have pictures if you don’t believe lol. There was even an annual style book of photos put together to benefit those affected.
Edit; I’m fairly certain this exact photo is from Mississipi, but this happened all along the delta
I would be a bundle of nerves .
🎶I drove my Chevy to the levee, but the levee was dry🎶
Evidently these homes were saved. [https://www.npr.org/sections/pictureshow/2011/05/20/136495797/photos-come-high-water-homemade-levees-may-save-the-day](https://www.npr.org/sections/pictureshow/2011/05/20/136495797/photos-come-high-water-homemade-levees-may-save-the-day)
Bet his neighbors were mad and intrigued all at the same time!
Curious what they would build for a fire?
He won’t be happy When the Levee Breaks
How long did they need to keep the levee in place?
Cool reverse moat.
They may have saved the home, but they still live in Arkansas. Condolences.
r/7daystodie
🎵if it keeps on rain-nan🎶
Just remember when the levee breaks, momma you got to move.
Looks like a mr beast vid
How is it not flooding from below? Is it an insanely deep water table?
Won’t the water rise from the drainage system?
Would holdup temporarily, would certainly fail relatively soon with or without more pressure. And it would fill up if they weren’t using pumps. So I guess if the diesel holds out longer than inundation…
Insurance company should be paying him
Legit question. Would the basement be like….. completely flooded?
I heard he also saved two of every animal.
And when it breaks, he’ll have no place to stay
I wonder how stable the ground was. Sure the house isn’t submerged but it’s not like the water around it magically can’t seep into the soil it’s built on.
Come and take it!
“Who looks stupid now?”
That playset was heavily insured however.
I guarantee this dude is saying “my neighbors said I was crazy” while retelling this story for the next 40 years.
What happens after?
How long does it take for the water to go? Do they have electricity etc?
Would have been funny if they made an even smaller levee for the swingset in the back yard.
how can i do this but for fire?
Looks like a mote to me. They won’t be invaded anytime soon.
His name is Noah isn’t it?
Master Roshi, is that you?
The pride that homeowner must feel watching the flood come and go around his house
How the hell
I always love these because the stories are usually “I started building a levee because of the reports of heavy flooding. All my neighbors got a kick out of it and made fun of me.” Then this guy is usually the only one with a house left in the neighborhood.
I am starting them on the internet frequently. I have a question. What happens to the basement? Wont it get flooded? All the water pressure…won’t water seep through the floorboards?
If it keeps on raining the levees gonna break.
Ya have to wonder about the long term effects on the foundation though
That’s called having a lot of money
Now do it with California wild fires
I’d like to know how this was done and how long it took
Wow levees do work