Walkin' In Memphis - May 22, 2011

Tuesday, May 22 – Walkin’ In Memphis

© Gordon McCall

Awoke this morning with a strong desire to get on the road South. Next stop Memphis. Today we feel we’ll begin to encounter the real south. It’s a long drive though Missouri and on to Memphis, Tennessee. Graceland beckons.

Our first stop is Ste Genevieve, a small town, not too far south of St. Louis just off Hwy 61. We’ve decided to take the secondary Hwy 61 because it brings us closer to the river. We saw that the river was flooded n St. Louis but it all seemed manageable. Here for the first time we begin to see the flooding over farmers’ fields and we notice the geography begin to change to big, flat farmland. Once the water breaches or tops the levees it will have a free run for miles and miles – a new lake can form in a matter of hours because of the flat land. It’s the first time I fully realize how important the levees are.

Weather is sunny and occasionally overcast.

In Ste. Genevieve we park near the local high school on directions from a local who says the river has flooded the local high school football field. When we arrive at the location after driving in circles for awhile, all seems benign. The football field or should I say pro stadium that many professional teams would be proud of – superb grandstand, floodlights and pro turf field that looks brand new (Football, as we know, is a serious business in the south) is dry as a bone. It sits in a major drop off to flat farmland about 50 feet below the roadway – a perfect spot for flooding but no water in sight.

Stretching far beyond the football stadium is flat farmland and then a tree line which tells us the Mississippi is the far side of that. There seems to be no immediate access to it. We drive back to the heart of the town and ask another local where we might gain access to the river. They say the best bet is the small town of St. Mary, a few miles further down river.

We’re off and running. When we pull into St. Mary’s we hit the reality of the flooding head on. The town itself is very old and “boutique chic”, as I like to call it. A lot of café’s, antique shops, health food stores, book shops, the usual gentrified and restored old town. However, there are also wonderful houses that go back hundreds of years that have been preserved as historic sites. We admire the care that has gone into preserving these pieces of history. Then we discover how close they are to danger whenever the river floods.

As we leave the village core and approach the river, we encounter a small creek. On the village side of the creek is a flood measuring stick that shows how high the water has come in years past. There’s one marker that shows it so high that the town itself would have been uinder water.

We drive the winding dirt road toward the river and notice the small puddles of water and silt here and there along its length. As we come close to the river we encounter something new to us. Massive flood gates made of what looks like steel. We find out later it seems to be aluminum. There are several of them, standing open at the moment. Upon closer inspection we realize what an engineering marvel they are. Like closing the gates of a castle and raising the drawbridge over the moat, these gates are intended to hold back torrents of water too big to imagine. They stand about 15’ wide by about 20 feet high each and there are 8 of them. They are directly attached to one end of a winding, giant levee. Just over the levee is water, the mounting flood of the river, which lies just beyond a tree line.

We inspect the gates then drive through to the river’s edge. The river is moving at breakneck speed, is very wide, and the shoreline has been pushed back by the flooding. Water splashes among the now submerged tree trunks and the wind is up a bit. A ferry is pulling in to transport vehicles to the other side. It looks like a scary proposition. If the engine on the small ferry ever fails – the current is moving at breakneck speed – and sure disaster awaits.

We encounter a family of local bicycle riders at the shore and they grant us our second major video interview. They are great people and fill us in on their life with the river and what may lie ahead. The conclusion is that they are feeling fairly secure with the levee and the massive floodgates protecting them. It could get worse but they feel ok.

We head out, destination Cape Girardeau.

This time we find ourselves in the country in a much more isolated location where the river has risen greatly and the wind has picked up. It seems the further south we go the more the flooding increases. We walk a long bridge to survey the flooding. This is the first time we feel a little spooked by what lies around us. Vulnerable to the elements would be the best way to describe it – small and vulnerable. As we stand on the bridge videoing the flooded landscape, including submerged telephone poles and electric lines about 20 feet above the floodwaters, we are hit by powerful winds. It’s very odd, the sky is relatively bright and sunny but these winds forecast a storm. We are literally pushed along the bridge a bit. It’s only hours later that we find out that Joplin, Missouri, has been hit be a massive tornado with huge loss of life and that we are on the outskirts of that weather system.

Odder still, we spy 2 local fisherman in about a 15’ boat anchored to some trees in the flood zone. We see them pull a good-sized fish from the waters, look at it and toss it back. We wish them well from afar and head out. We’re a little uneasy and figure we should now head straight to Memphis. It’s getting late in the day. All day long I have Marc Cohn’s song, Walkin’ In Memphis, in my head. I can’t quite believe we’re finally going to be there.

It’s several hours to Memphis and along the way we stop and eat, gas up and keep rolling. We notice the sky beginning to get darker with storm clouds and see more flood damage on the fields.

Finally, we pull into Memphis and decide there’s enough time to go and see Graceland. We’ll forego Beale Street. Not enough time. We also decide not to take the mansion tour but simply look at the grounds, the famous gates and wall and the airplanes Elvis flew, most particularly the Lisa Marie with the Taking Care of Business logo painted on the tail section. All in all it’s a bit of a letdown. The area around the mansion is definitely economically depressed and I wonder if this is anywhere near the Memphis of Elvis’ own day. It seems the city might have had a better looking future back then than it has actually realized. We take some photos and video and head for our motel in an area of town called South Haven. The sky is darkening and the wind is picking up.

We check in and go and have some barbecue at a local establishment. It’s good and the first time Kent has eaten southern barbecue so we enjoy the experience. We head back to our rooms and settle in.

About an hour after dark, Rich knocks on my door and alerts me to look at the tv. Reports are coming in of the terrible tornado that has hit Joplin, Missouri and the weather system is headed directly for Memphis. It’s so serious looking that I call a meeting in Rich’s room to decide our course of action should we take a direct hit in the middle of the night. We all have families back home and I feel it’s imperative we have a plan. Simple things like how do we stay in contact with each other. Where do we plan to take cover in the event of a hit.

We all agree that this is a flimsy motel without much cover. The best we might do is get in our bathtubs and pull mattresses over our heads. Ironically, the mattresses are so big in this cheap hotel that it would take a crane to move them.

I go to the senior citizen woman on night-desk duty and ask her if she has any suggestions. She says no, other than pray, which is what she’ll be doing. I ask if this area of town has ever been hit by a tornado. She says no and then she says, “Oh, wait a minute, I take that back. A couple of years ago a tornado hit right here and I had to lie face first on the floor of my house because I wasn’t going to go in my closet and put a mattress over me, even if my son said I should. When it was over we drove over to the Kroeger’s grocery store (pointing) right across the street there and the whole warehouse was gone, completely gone!”

That was all I need to hear. I went back, checked in with Kent and Rich and we went to our separate rooms. My plan is to go to the bathtub and pray with a survival kit beside me in the event of the worst. It seemed the others were planning io the same.

I have a stiff drink, turn on the tv and keep it on all night in the hope it will blare a warning if the tornado is coming in. There’s real fear among all three of us. I also feel a terrible sinking feeling that I have asked these guys to join me on this adventure and now, in this unpredictable moment, I feel a big guilt and a big sense of responsibility. Nothing to be done but stay as alert as possible and wait it out. I fall asleep about an hour later.

The Long and Winding Road Home, May 26, 2011

The Long and Winding Road Home

© Gordon McCall, May 26, 2011

Up at 6 a.m., weather is sunny and humid, as if the danger and damage of last night’s severe storms had never occurred. We meet in the lobby of the Comfort Inn for a quick breakfast at 7 a.m. and are on the highway by 7:30 a.m. We estimate 8 hours home. It turns out to be 12.

Rich and I take turns driving. We make a number of stops along the way for gas, downloading some of our video images at a rest stop from Rich’s computer to mine etc., we stop for food, and to change drivers but we never stay long. We’re definitely on the road home. Often we’re simply lost in our own thoughts for long stretches of time. The trip has had a profound affect on all of us. We’re tired but the consensus is that it was hugely worthwhile and rewarding to us on many levels. We also realize it will take a while for us to digest everything we’ve experienced. It seems that this is the way it should be. .

From Memphis, Tennessee, through a small part of Arkansas, and Missouri – we roll along. The main highways and secondary highways are in amazingly good shape in this part of the south. We’re all impressed.

I think of Joplin, Missouri still in the chaos and tragedy of the massive hurricane that struck this week as we were driving through that same state on the opposite edge from the disaster zone. We all remain stunned by the horror that this weather front has caused. Today, we’ve just heard on the radio, that it has impacted all the way from Buffalo to Memphis. And now its moving its path from Vermont to Nashville. It’s massive and still moving.

11:30 a.m. we cross the Mississippi River from Missouri into Illinois. As we gaze out at the river from the bridge we can see it’s still flooded for miles.

It feels like we know this river a little bit
now – it’s already become a fixture in our field of vision and every time we look at it, we are impressed with its power. The Mighty, emphasis on MIGHTY, Mississippi is very appropriately named just that. As we cross the bridge we see the sky darkening ahead of us. We’re not home yet.

In my musings, as we drive, I worry about what’s to come. Kent and Rich and I discuss this off and on. Peter Thomas in Tunica, Mississippi showed us that even though the water level may drop at Lake Ponchetrain a couple of feet and the river may crest in Vicksburg, the reality is that new rains, which we are now receiving (it’s only the beginning of tornado season) and water still high upriver, may yet wreak more havoc downriver and people may not be ready for it, since they think the worst is over. I hope this scenario never comes true.

(Gord surveying the damage, downtown Vicksburg, Mississippi May 24, 2011)

Today, in order to save time we decide to bypass St. Louis and angle our way through Illinois to Hwy 70 and make our major turn for home at Champagne Urbana, Illinois – territory I’m familiar with because Rick and I and Paul White play hockey in Danville, Illinois right next to Urbana.

11:45 a.m. - 250 miles from Champagne, Illinois, another hour and a quarter from there to Lafayette. We figure we’ll be home by 5:30 p.m.

We’re looking for the hwy 57 cutoff and in the heavy traffic and constant mist and rain we miss it. So we decide to stay on 70 right to Indianapolis and then home on 65 and 52. But no sooner do we decide this than we run into a massive traffic jam. Looks like we’ll lose another hour at least. After crawling along for half an hour we see the Terra Haute cutoff and decide to take Hwy 41 – 40, 231 and home. But it looks like everyone else decided this as well. We end up in a second traffic jam and as we enter Terra Haute, we run into a massive police presence and yellow accident scene investigation tape criss-crossing the intersection. We end up following traffic into a residential area and it’s only then we realize the accident scene is a collapsed building and we begin to see torn up trees, and major damage to other buildings. The traffic is being diverted because, apparently, a tornado has just struck here. How did we not know about this?

We soon discover first-hand that a tornado or flat line winds (an equally dangerous weather system) have ripped though this town and local residents and first responders are on the streets trying to clear debris. It’s a frightening scene. When we check with our families by phone we find out a tornado and/or flat line winds hit Terra Haute last night. We are still in its residual bad rain and gusting winds.

It takes us another half hour to get through the impromptu detour and we are reminded, once again, that this massive weather system is still creating incredible destruction as it moves across the country. One of our overriding thoughts is how lucky we’ve been to escape a direct hit from this system in our travels. We’ve been very close, too close, but unlike so many others who weren’t so lucky, we’ve somehow managed to be in the right place at the right time, instead of the other way around.

Finally at 7:30 p.m. we pull into Lafayette. We let Rich off at Purdue, say heartfelt goodbyes and return the car to Purdue transportation services. Then its home, at last.

It’s been an adventure and a half, as Kent would say. There’s no doubt about that. Also, as Kent would say, the journey has only just begun. Next, it’s film editing time. I hope we have the film complete by the end of the summer.

On a personal note, this journey has reconfirmed my belief that being in the moment, creating, investigating, researching and making direct personal connections to people in life changing situations can be one of the most rewarding gifts that life can give.

As for my first visit to the South and the Mighty Mississippi, it was high impact from beginning to end. I’ll definitely be back.

(Gord, Kent, Dr. Erves, Rich following the Town Hall meeting for the victims of the flood, community auditorium, Vicksburg, Mississippi, May 24, 2011 - Dr. Erves 90 year old mother lost everything she had, including her home, in the flood. She had spent her entire life living on the banks of the Mississippi. Now she gazes at the river every day thinking she'll go home when the waters subside. Unfortunately, she never will.)

A final thought:

For anyone reading this, I urge you, and I think I can speak on behalf of Kent and Rich as well, to give to the Red Cross and The Salvation Army in any situation where you’d like to help people in a crisis like the one we’ve been reporting on. So many people are aware of this but I just thought you might like to know that, once again, we witnessed the incredible direct and immediate physical and psychological assistance that these two particular organizations give to individuals in dire need. And as one victim of the Mississippi flooding told us, even a small amount makes a huge difference.

Finding Higher Ground, May 25, 2011

Finding Higher Ground in Mississippi & Tennessee

© Gordon McCall, May 25, 2011

8 a.m. – Directly to the police chief’s to get him to sign the release form for the film. Had to wait 45 minutes but eventually he came out signed the release, wished us well and we were off for breakfast. Ended up at a Cracker Barrel. I was finally able to make contact with Willie for his interview but he said he wouldn’t be free until noon and that he’d call us. I have a feeling he really doesn’t want to do this, which is fine because he has much bigger issues to deal with. His sister’s house is under the water and he’s trying to find a way to rebuild it.

Went to the antique store for Kent to pick up a small item for his daughter, discovered that Rich had sat on his glasses and broken them in two. We made an emergency stop at an opticians and, low and behold, for $25 they gave him new frames, installed the glasses and we were on our way.

10 a.m. – We are watching a re-enactment, interactive map in the Visitor’s shop at the National Military Park that was once the battlefield of the seige of Vicksburg during the Civil War. This battle and Gettysburg turned the war forever in favor of the union.

10:30 – We begin our tour. In order to get through it in 2 hours or so you have to drive, it’s so big and the battle covered so much ground.

Our concerns that the battlefield might be under Mississippi flood waters is unfounded since the defensive perimieter of the city, which was besieged by Grant and his army, is high up on the bluffs that surround the town. The bluffs and the Mississippi were supposed to be impregnable defenses and they were for a time. A few earlier attempts to dislodge the soldiers by the Union Army failed. But Grant finally outflanked the Confederate garrison by making the risky move of going deep behind enemy lines and coming at the town from the southeast, exactly where they didn’t expect it and couldn’t really defend it.

Our visit to the battlefield has turned out to be a truly memorable and moving journey through an incredibly well-maintained national historic site. We couldn’t have imagined it before seeing it. It’s also the first Civil War battlefield I’ve visited and it was definitely worth the wait.

The battle was very complex and protracted. A total of twenty thousand men were lost in the fighting. When you walk the field and see the monuments and the gravesites, along with the incredibly hilly geography of the place, it’s astounding. And very moving.

We finished the tour about 12:30.  I think we've ended up with many great photos and video clips. I had a profoundly moving experience standing alone inside the rotunda of the great Illinois monument. It's open skylight is incredible. You look straight up and see the clouds floating by miles above and feel the weight of the history decorating the marble walls surrounding you. When you speak, even softly your voice echoes. For me its the perfect acoustical accompaniment to this history - voices from the past echoing through time.


12:45 p.m. I just phoned Willie and no answer so we’ve decided that his interview is not going to happen. He had indicated he'd get back to us but he didn't so we'll leave him to his own, more serious, concerns. We eat lunch at McCallisters and briefly re-visit the small privately owned Civil War museum.

Then we hit the road heading north. Our trip has taken us as far south as we could go. We’re simply out of time and money. But, I’m hugely grateful for what we’ve seen and what we’ve accomplished. We’ll definitely have a good film out of this when all is said and done. I figure the editing process will take a month or so. I’m also very grateful to Rich and Kent for their great partnership on this journey, and especially Kent for flying all the way from Canada for this event.

We head up Hwy 55. All has proceeded as normal, the day is bright and sunny but it’s about 3:30 p.m. and I just got word through my i-phone weather app (thanks Rick Thomas) that there’s a tornado watch in Memphis and Cape Girardeau, Missouri – both destinations we’re headed toward. We’ll be keeping a keen eye on the weather. Right now it’s 84 degrees and sunny with a beautiful blue sky but that can change quickly.

5 p.m. and the situation has definitely deteriorated. The sky is black with scudding clouds, wind is high and radio reports are saying there’s definitely a massive weatherfront and tornado heading to Memphis from Arkansas. We discuss options like trying to head back the way we came, head west, head east but nothing makes sense. We decide we have to make a run for Memphis and try to get a hotel room. I imagine many people will be trying to do the same thing so it could be tricky getting a room.

The reason no other option makes sense is we’ve just discovered we’re already well inside the massive weather front and couldn’t possibly outrun it in any direction. Just a few minutes ago we had discussed, at my urging, to go back to Tunica to get a photo of the Blue and White restaurant. But that means traveling  back roads and adding an extra half hour. I decide it’s not worth it. Everyone agrees. We instead decide to check into the nearest hotel that looks substantial – i.e. has a chance of surviving a tornado even if damaged. In simpler terms- thick walls! After learning that the death toll in Joplin, Missouri is now 125 and counting and that 10 people were lost in a tornado in Oklahoma yesterday, we are definitely concerned.

5:30 p.m. – the tornado warnings are coming thick and fast. There may be more than one.

6:00 p.m. – all radio stations are on emergency broadcast. We apparently have 24 minutes to find shelter.

6:15 – south Memphis – we head to a Hilton. No rooms available. We dash over to a Comfort Inn – thank God – rooms available and the 4 story structure looks strong. We check in, go to our rooms, I prepare an emergency kit with my backpack and return to the lobby to watch the news with Rich and Kent and other guests. There is is concern in the room. We watch the pending tornado approach us. Massive thunder, lighting and wind. Sky a strange yellow color. Rain starts hurtling downward, a massive downpour. We go to Kent’s room  to watch and wait. We discover Tunica may take a direct hit. That’s unbelievable after what they’ve been through with the river. I also can’t help but think how our instinct saved us from making a side trip there a few minutes ago. But miracle of miracles, by 7:30 the tornado has passed over us and not touched down. In fact by 8:30 it is reduced to a severe storm and Memphis is left unscathed. That was truly scary. Big sigh of relief, phone calls home, which we’ve all been doing regularly throughout the afternoon. Everyone’s relived. Irony of ironies, Lafayette, Indiana where both Rich and I live is under tornado watch. While we’ve been dealing with it here in Memphis, Eloise and Leslie have been dealing with it at the other end. Eloise has prepared the basement for emergency as we discussed. Fortunately, this also turns out to be a severe storm with no tornado touchdown. Unfortunately, one did touch down in Lafayette a couple of weeks ago – no loss of life but the threat is oh so real.

We head to our respective rooms and beds. I leave my tv on for emergency reports. Exhausted. 

Vicksburg or Bust May 24, 2011

Vicksburg or Bust

© Gordon McCall, May 24, 2011

They tell us hwy 61 is closed by flooding from the backed up Yazoo River but we’re determined to get there. This morning in the hotel coffee and continental breakfast area a young man approached me and said he was sure he’d seen me before. We determined that he hadn’t and it was simply the doppelganger affect. There are other people out there who look like me. Turns out Marcus is the new assistant basketball coach at Delta State and we exchanged coordinates. Also discovered he’d been in the military for 4 years and is a Christian evangelist. A nice guy who was raised in Biloxi, Mississippi and he gave us invaluable directions to avoid the hwy 61 flood and get to Vicksburg – Hwy 8, 49, 12, 220 but it’s a long haul. It’s lucky we took 49 east, we found out later they closed 49 west. Oddly enough both 49 east and west take you to the same place.

Rockpoint Plantation – farm country – very rural, very much economically depressed.

Today is the 50^th Anniversary of the Freedom Riders. The Mississippi Governor finally recognized them and apologized for their bad treatment by the state of Mississippi 50 years ago. Giant fields of corn, quite mature for May. Massive farm fields with huge irrigation apparatus.

Sunny, very hot and humid – in the 90’s.

Crossed the Yazoo River near Greenwood – it's level seemed normal. Flooding must be downstream.

Tula, Mississippi – 11:45 a.m. – a tiny, depressed rural town. We pass a chain gang of about 15 prisoners walking toward us on either side of the main street collecting refuse from the streets. They stare at us with some curiosity, as do we at them.

We’re in a very poor part of the state. It reminds me of the movie, Cool Hand Luke with Paul Newman.

12:35 p.m. – 5 miles from Jackson, Mississippi, the capital. Country has turned from massive farm fields to wealthy, horse country, McMansions, golf clubs. More hilly and forested. We notice the deadly imported vine that is covering everything in site called kadzu, I think. It’s scary to see what it’s doing to the landscape. Apparently exactly where we are between Jackson and Yazoo City is the worst outbreak in the US. We seem to have just driven by it.

2 p.m. – we make it toVicksburg, population, approximately 26, 000. Talked to Deborah at visitor and convention bureau. She tells us about a special town hall meeting to be held by the mayor at the auditorium tonight. Also tells us where the Red Cross shelter is.

Later, when we arrive at the Red Cross shelter in a local church, we discover there’s only a few people staying there. But the disaster has displaced 800 families. Where are they? We find out later that the character of this town is very different from Tunica. It seems that here in Vicksburg people operate more on rumor than fact, they stay away from town hall meetings, there are those among them who are stealing life saving items like generators from one another and more. On the other hand, we also discover later on that there are some amazing people giving way above and beyond their resources and the call of duty to help others.

Weather is still hot and humid – incredibly so. But it is the deep south, after all. We’re running out of time so we plan Vicksburg as our deepest point south in the trip. Tomorrow we’ll visit the famous battle field on the way out of town.

We eat lunch in Eddie Monsoor’s, inside the Biscuit Company Restaurant, on the waterfront near the Mississippi Valley Railroad Company that is half submerged in water. We talk to a local police officer, Walter Harris, and he tells us that no one is allowed on the river or back to their homes except first responders and commercial fisherman. Snakes, poisonous water moccasins and alligators have begun to move into areas along the riverbank where they’re not normally found. We also discover that a man drowned right here last week.

I ask Officer Harris if we can interview him for our story. He tells us we’ll have to get permission from the police chief.

We walk the six or seven steamy blocks to the Vicksburg police Dept. and meet up with Chief Walter Armstrong, an amazingly spic and span, chiseled body, be-medaled police officer. He is a true professional but, also we discover, a nice man who gives us a great interview about the conditions in the town and what lies ahead. The indomitable spirit of the community is present in his demeanor and discussion. Inspiring.

At 6 p.m. we arrive that the town hall meeting. It proves to be hugely informative, full of character and color, and we manage several great interviews with officials and people directly affected by the flood.

Our final interview of the evening was perhaps the most inspirational – Dr. Erves, a retired educator with a Phd in education was there on behalf of an organization called Helping Hands. They reach out to people in times of disaster. She was there specifically for that purpose but the real story for us was that of her 90 year old mother. Her mother has been displaced from her life long home and homestead that has been in the family for generations. She doesn’t understand she can never go back to that home and way of life. She keeps talking about when she’ll go back and wanting to know how soon she can get there. She had lived in this old mobile home in the woods on their 40 acres for years and when they tried to move the mobile home to higher ground in the days leading up to the flood it broke apart. Everything was lost except some of her belongings. She’s now staying with Dr. Erves sister but she thinks that’s only temporary. It’s not.

The moment that brought tears to all of our eye was when Dr. Erves told us her mother goes down to the flooded river every day and simply looks out at the high water.  It seems to bring her comfort of some kind.

There were hopeful people at the meeting, people with a never-say-die attitude ad also angry people, particularly angry at FEMA for not giving them enough relief money. I’ll tell you one thing, I never want our family to be in this situation. The red tape is incredible and many families are denied relief. Each case has its own unique circumstances of course but some decisions appear unjust.

It’s going to be a long recovery period in Vicksburg, after the media, the relief agencies and researchers like us leave. The community will have to look after themselves completely. Thankfully they have a great young mayor, amazing people in the community and a good police chief. And, as one woman told us – God will take care of the rest, he always does.

And yet again, no one we talked to blames the river. Dr. Erves hated the river when she was teenager and was in the 1973 flood but she tells us that's because she was more interested in teenage interests like being a cheerleader, boys and hairdos than the more serious aspects of the flood. For her, the flood was more a major inconvenience than a tragedy at that time in her life. Now, of course, she sees it from an adult perspective and realizes the river is never to blame. It's unpredictability is part of its nature and people have to take that risk into account always. And as for anger at the Army Core of Engineers, it's not there. In Vicksburg they celebrate the levee system, which the Army Core has painstakingly built over decades. It’s doing what it’s intended to do holding back the river, even with this record flood. Now everyone is praying more bad weather and a tropical depression weather system don’t settle in over the south. This could cause more flooding and cause breaches in the levees. There is still a possibility of one of the major levees breaking. That is a very scary thought, especially now that we've been on and beside some of the levees ourself. A fragile system but one that is ingenious in its engineering. However, it seems that Mother Nature’s calling the shots all the way on this one.

Tonight we found out 129 died in the Joplin tornado and 10 died in the Oklahoma tornado yesterday. And the summer’s only beginning.


9 p.m. we head back to our Motel 6 near the battleground, meet in the hotel bar for a drink and share our thoughts and emotions about this powerful day. We now have the bookends for our story - the very personal Tunica stories and the public relief effort of the town hall meeting. In between are hundreds of indelible discoveries and moments of hypnotic power.

Tunica Turning Point - On The Road in Mississippi, May 23, 2011

Tunica Turning Point - On The Road in Mississippi, May 23, 2011
© Gordon McCall

Awoke this morning to find out that we had not been blown away by a tornado in the middle of the night – greatly relieved. But turned up the volume on the tv – had it on all night for tornado alerts - the tv will blare sounds to get your attention if a tornado is imminent - found out death toll in Joplin, Missouri is 89 and climbing. Very sad. Temperature 84 degrees and humid this morning. Sky overcast. It feels like something is in the air that is dangerous – the calm before the storm? We hope not. We don’t know quite what to expect today so will stay alert to all possibilities.

Met Kent and Rich for breakfast, checked out, bought some supplies for the road – fruit, water etc. and then we headed back to Graceland so I could get film of it. Everything I had shot upon arrival yesterday was no good. I hadn’t noticed my camera wasn’t recording at key times.

This time all was good and we were back on the road within ½ hour. Heading ever deeper south to what we don’t know. The country is incredibly flat for miles around – no wonder the water spreads so quickly once it breeches the  levees. We’re now on the Mississippi Delta and running alongside cotton, rice, wheat and corn fields. Very good highways and not highly populated except for the various towns along the way.

I’m driving again today. Will switch off with Rich tomorrow. As I drive and see the landscape unfold mile after mile, I feel exhilarated to finally be in the land of so much amazing but disturbing history, life affirming music and to be following the Mighty Mississippi – the river I’ve fantasized about off and on since I was a young boy reading Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn, living through the explosive 60’s and observing the agony and victory of the Civil Rights movement in this tumultuous state from afar,  and thinking about the Civil War and this being the 150^th anniversary of that defining event in American history with Vicksburg at the heart of the conflict. Wow.

Something unexpected – we’re surrounded by billboard after billboard advertising casinos – Harrah’s, Lucky Strike, Golden Horseshoe and many, many more. Flat, flooded fields that go on forever,  and casinos set way back off the highway with giant signs beckoning us to enter. Paula Dean and Toby Keith are advertised entertainers.  It’s country musician meets the cooking show that will kill you with deep fried butter.

First stop is Visitor Bureau on hwy 61 – this is the old highway – the famous hwy Bob Dylan sang about and the highway that is part of the legendary blues crossroads of Robert Johnson fame where, apparently, he sold his soul to the devil. The crossroads are the intersection of Highway 61 and Highway 49 in Clarkesville, Mississippi.

Conducted an interview with Amy, the tourism consultant – she advised us to head to Tunica – it has been hit hard by the flooding and then on to Helena, Greenville and finally Vicksburg. She said go to the Blue and White café. That’s where the locals gather and we’re sure to get some good interviews.

We do just that and suddenly our world changes – the reality of this flood is in front of us and all around us.

The Blue and White is a famous old diner/café that is in fact a family restaurant with old diner barstools at the counter, booths and tables with everything decorated in blue and white. We love it the moment we enter. We get a booth and order a real breakfast – the one at the motel was pretty minimal. Bacon, eggs, biscuits, incredible biscuits, hash browns, great coffee and good service. We finish our breakfast while discussing our plan of attack and then ask permission to video interviews with the customers, which is promptly denied! We have to wait for the owner to arrive in the afternoon, which is 3 hours away, to see if we can do that. We understand the dilemma, thank the manager and are about to leave when Shanna, a waitress, comes to us and says she’d like to talk to us after her shift is over. She has a story to tell and is willing to go on camera to do it. Additionally , the manager suggests we go down the street to the Battle Arena where the Red Cross has set up a shelter for the victims of the flood. There’s more than 80 people there who have been sleeping on cots for 3 weeks with no hope in sight.

We decide to follow this lead. When we arrive, many locals are sitting outside talking. We go in and ask the officials of the Red Cross if we can interview people,. We show them our Purdue i.d. and our video release forms and detail the project and after some discussion they say yes and go so far as to provide us an interview room. We know this is going to be an incredible opportunity to get first-hand accounts of this disaster.

We’ve worked out our logistics and now we have a 2 and sometimes 3 camera shoot going. We should get good angles for editing.

We ask a number of people if they’d be interested in talking to us – to tell their story the way they want to. Many people step forward. They want to be heard. We are careful to advise them that we don’t know if this documentary will reach TV because it’s part of a larger research project etc. but they don’t care. Everyone reads and signs the release form. The first spellbinding interview lasts ½ hour. We know we’re on to something.

Suffice it to say that by the end of the afternoon, we are emotionally exhausted but spiritually rewarded. These are amazing people and their vulnerability and honesty really got to us.

We shot a total of 7 interviews today, including an audio interview with Joe, owner of Blue and White café in Tunica. It was an amazing, emotional, rewarding day. We’re a good team and there’s no doubt we will have enough material for a documentary. More than that our respect for the Red Cross is higher than ever and our own lives have been incredibly enriched by meeting these people and witnessing the power and unpredictability but undeniable majesty of the Mississippi.

 I’m having trouble downloading my film to my Mac , thereby allowing me to reuse my camera cards – essential because I can’t afford to buy more cards. This is all because Sony and Apple, unbeknownst to me, have made it difficult to download because of some proprietary dispute. When I get back I have to buy an additional piece of software to be able to download. But for the time being, somehow we’ll make do. Rich is a whiz at computers and thinks he can download everything onto his computer which is a PC and more Sony friendly and then transfer everything to my outboard hard drive. We know we’re really into the heart of the story now and we’re not going to miss a minute of this. 

After getting our final interview with Shanna from the Blue and White café and an unexpected but great audio interview with Joe the owner, we hit the road for our next destination - Helena, Mississippi.

It’s heading toward Helena that the full force of this disaster hits us. We drive a back road to the Helena Bridge that borders Arkansas. As we approach and cross the top of the levee we’re suddenly surrounded by miles of water with the Helena Bridge in the distance. That tells us that the bridge is over the main river channel but the acres of water around the ribbon of road we’re driving on is massive and moving fast and is definitely not where the river should be. We also know this flood is the worst in almost a hundred years. It has caught almost everyone off guard.

Just before the bridge is the Capri Casino, an island of slot machines and crap tables, now in the midst of frantic defensive preparation for more water to come in the next few days. It’s closed down due to the flood but workers are everywhere constructing more levees with security guards keeping curiosity seekers at bay. Rich is asked to back off the property when he inadvertently steps on their driveway as he's preparing to shoot some video.

We found out in our Tunica interviews that the casinos are built purposely on water and land. The casino is built on water and floats on barges, the accompanying hotels and other amenities are on dry land beside them. This is a Mississippi River Boat gambling law that says gambling has to take place on the river a la the old river boats. So the casinos are put on barges and the other buildings on dry land. Only problem is the casino barges can and do spring leaks. What's beginning to happen is that the casino structures are beginning to list and the river is beginning to envelope the entire structures. It’s incredible to see. The Capri is in real and present danger.

We drive over the bridge into Arkansas and when we reach the apex of the bridge and look down into the swirling waters galloping along below us, it makes us all nervous and anxious to get to dry land. Once over the bridge, we immediately turn around and come back to Mississippi. I have to admit, I was concerned as we crossed the bridge. The power of this river can certainly knock down structures and in the context of last night’s Joplin, Missouri tornado, it makes the fragility of life ever more apparent.

It’s now 4 p.m. and the sky is beginning to look threatening so we decide to head straight downriver to Greenville. Once again, I’m struck by the vastness of the fields and the great flood plain that can become an ocean in a matter of hours. Thank God for the levee system. Let’s hope it holds as the back pressure increases in the next couple of days.

Part way to Greenville we approach a sign saying Delta Blues Museum and Hall of Fame. We immediately follow the sign and end up a few minutes later at the famous crossroads of Highway 61 and 49 in downtown Clarkesville, Mississippi. An incredible feeling to arrive at the roots of this great music.

Clarkesville is certainly no tourist town, It appears economically depressed and has an appearance of faded glory. We finally find the museum in a converted train station but with very little time to explore it before closing time at 5 p.m. Nevertheless, we do see some of it and it is truly awe-inspiring. Muddy Waters’ original Gibson guitar is in there along with incredible memorabilia of all of the greats.

Even more inspiring was a group of African American kids and adults coming out from what appeared to be blues music lessons. Shortly after their arrival, a very cool looking guitar player who looked like a young Buddy Guy casually appeared and strolled across the grass to his waiting car. Perhaps he was the teacher. No matter, it was an inspirational moment.

Now we’re in a rush to get to a motel for the night but realize there aren’t many of those in the area. But, fortunately, a short while later, we arrive in Cleveland, Mississippi and find rooms in the Econo Lodge. Exhausted, but fulfilled, we have dinner at the Airport Grocery restaurant and return to blog, download video and strategize and then finally relax until tomorrow’s unpredictable but sure to be exciting developments.

We just found out that the Yazooo River has backed up and flooded Hwy 61 at Greenville, effectively cutting off traffic and blocking our way to Vicksburg. And according to Peter Thompson, one of our expert interviewees from this afternoon, there’s possibly 15 more feet of water coming their way in the next day or two. We’ll be extra, extra careful from here on out.

Beyond Reason, Compelled To Go, May 21, 2011

Beyond Reason, Compelled To Go, May 21, 2011
© Gordon McCall


Two years ago I introduced a course in collective theatre creation for our Purdue University Dept. of Theatre. I called the course Hot Water - the goal was to create a devised piece of theatre based on our emotional relationship to water. That journey established a partnership in the project with Rick Thomas, Head of Purdue sound design and some of the students of that original exploration. Since then, I've created phase 2 of the project in Montreal with a group of professional actors and this summer intended to get to Australia to pick up my earlier research down under that I had begun 3 years ago. But a funny thing happened on the way to Australia. The Mississippi River came calling.

This past week, May 18, 2011, to be exact, it occurred to me that the disastrous flooding that's happening with the Mississippi River right now was foretold in the research we did on the first incarnation of Hot Water. Thanks to Patrick Midgley, one of the graduate acting students involved in the project, drawing our attention to the US Army Core of Engineers and their history of being at war with the mighty Mississippi, we became aware of the precarious balance of the Mississippi and a giant part of the US population. Nevertheless, I have to admit I didn't think we'd see the potential tragedy unfold in our lifetime but suddenly, less than 3 years later, the disaster of epic proportions is underway.

This is the first time in history the Atchafalaya River, the spillway and the Mississippi River have been engaged in the last ditch action plan of the US army core of engineers to prevent New Orleans from being washed away. As I write this the release of the spillway has dropped Lake Ponchetrain by 2 feet. It was expected to crest at 19'6" but is now at 17'6" so it seems releasing the spillway is working.  By the way, the catastrophe depth is 20'. But the bulk of the water still lies upstream near St. Louis. The river will crest in Vicksburg, Mississippi this coming Tuesday. If all goes as planned the worst part of the disaster will be averted but at the costs of thousands of peoples homes, livelihood and possible lives. Averting the river to a lesser populated area as they've done will still destroy thousands of peoples' llves. But thousands more will be saved and the economic livelihood that so many states depend on from the Mississippi will be saved. So the few are paying the price for the many. But what a price.

To cut a long story short, I hope to be in Vicksburg, Mississippi interviewing people and shooting a documentary on this historic and tragic occurrence on Tuesday. This Saturday, I, along with Rich Dionne and professional actor, Kent Allen, will drive to St. Louis and pick up the Mississippi there. Next morning we'll begin the drive down through Missouri, Arkansas, Tennessee, Mississippi and Louisiana to Baton Rouge or New Orleans and back. The plan is to be back in Lafayette, Indiana by next Thursday afternoon. Along the way we'll stop at several towns in danger of disappearing and interview people. One of the great ironies of this tragedy is that the water is threatening to flood several major battlefields of the US Civil War. This year and for the next three years the country is focused on celebrating or at least recognizing the history of that war. It's the 150th anniversary.

The questions we'll be asking will focus on the people's emotional connection to the river, especially in those areas related to the Civil War. The thrust of the project is our emotional connection to water. I'm most interested in exploring people's resiliency in the face of this tragedy. I don't know quite what to expect. I have heard through a friend in Pittsburgh who just returned from the South that there's a lot of anger directed toward the Army Core of Engineers right now. That's going to be interesting to investigate.

But at the heart of this adventure is the pure joy of breaking free of planned events, trusting inspiration and instinct and setting off into the unknown on short notice with two good friends and knowing that we might discover or create something magical, or not, but that we'll be enriched by the experience and will share that enrichment with others.

I have a good feeling about this. It's been a long time since I felt that rush of adrenalin when I knew I could take action on a moment of inspiration. On the other hand, I know that we'll be witnessing and experiencing the raw reality of people coping with unimaginable personal disaster -  a sobering and humbling thought.