Mississippi Flooding: Homes Turned Into Islands To Resist Rising River (PHOTOS)

As a massive crest of water surges south along the Mississippi River, many residents are being forced to pack up and head for higher ground as their homes are tragically inundated with floods the likes of which, in many areas, haven't been seen since 1937.

Some residents have taken to building massive earthen levees around their houses in an attempt to stave off the rising waters. As the stunning aerial images below show, those who were successful are left with their own islands -- homes isolated on all sides by the seemingly endless waters of the Mississippi.

Unfortunately, most residents along the river aren't able to save their homes. CLICK HERE to see how you can help relief efforts.

CLICK HERE for more photos of the Mississippi River flooding and its aftermath.

Comments

[No stinking fans]

01:15 PM on 05/23/2011

I don't think i could handle being cut off from civilization like that, the boredom would be too much unless of course you were stuck with Maryanne or at least Ginger.

[benalbanach]

12:52 PM on 05/23/2011

Build a house there and you should never be surprised that flooding is a threat.

[yodha79]

11:21 AM on 05/23/2011

Unfortunately, this type of event will start occurring more frequently than before. We need to radically alter our thinking, as it will take over 100 years to reverse the underlying issue of climate change. New housing in flood prone areas should be built to float. Same with stock sheds, to act as temporary fedlot stock yards during floods, at least until stock can be transported by barge or other suitable means to dry land.

http://morphopedia.com/projects/float-house

[youvebeenflagged]

09:59 AM on 05/23/2011

Wow, I cannot believe that actually works. Kudos to those folks who built their personal levees.

[bigkendallas]

08:49 AM on 05/23/2011

I saw a report of people building these levees and though they were wasting their time, but to my surprise, alot of these are working to keep the homes from flooding.

[Widespread Panic]

08:34 AM on 05/23/2011

Amazing.

[RPM9500]

01:23 AM on 05/23/2011

The pictures show that those who are resourceful enough will make amazing things happen.
Great job by them for building those dykes in such a short time.
I do wonder where they got all of the dirt, unless they just dug it up from the local area.
But that's a lot of dirt. lol
Amazing ingenuity.

[Doug Yule]

12:26 AM on 05/23/2011

To all of you city slickers who have never been to a farm or seen earth moved by a bulldozer: These small earthen dams aren't made with imported sand or with government equipment. Also, many of these are not homes of rich people although even poor people in rural areas have a lot more living space than urbanites. Farmers are necessarily very resourceful people and most of them are skilled with equipment like tractors and bulldozers. I'm guessing most of these guys did the work themselves with their own or rented equipment. The biggest expense would have been the homeowner's time and the fuel to run the dozer.

[Lynda Filler]

11:11 PM on 05/22/2011

Great shots of this sad situation. Lucky those who could/had the funds to build the levy. Good luck to all.

[WheresNixon]

08:48 PM on 05/22/2011

These areas in the south need a lot of help after the storms they have had...

[WheresNixon]

08:34 PM on 05/22/2011

This idea is pure genius! Why are the people of the south so seldom given credit for their intellect? This took some definite engineering skills! Just for the record, I am from the north. Nice job Mississippi!

[Davey Johnson]

07:12 PM on 05/22/2011

Still have yet to hear a good reason why people are allowed to build homes in floodplains.

[himaui]

11:47 PM on 05/22/2011

or tornado alley?
or hurricane paths?
or earthquake fault lines?
or near oil wells?
or "clean" coal?

[RedWhiteandBlueState]

11:04 AM on 05/23/2011

We are ALL in Nature's way, Davey.

The question is why won't industry and society work in harmony with Nature, instead of doing absolutely everything we can to destroy and control it?

[AdManGuy]

05:58 PM on 05/22/2011

Photo of house looks computer-generated.

[keep it solid]

04:34 PM on 05/22/2011

I was wondering would it be good for construction companies to dump earth on the area where a new house will be constructed , so as to elevate the future house and protect it from possible floods?

[Jerry Barry]

02:42 PM on 05/22/2011

Everytime a disaster happens they people blame the government, but in this case these people getting their own private Island with help from the government, I don't see any thank you notes from these people to the government for the outstanding gift they received?

[dayna66]

04:49 PM on 05/22/2011

Thank you notes to the government?? who do you think foots the bill for the government, where there is more greed and mismanagement of our tax dollars.....