Osama bin Laden is still dead.

Despite the warning given by the meltdown of Blogger, I will be attempting to upgrade WordPress this weekend. If the blog disappears I will be found at the Why Now annex bemoaning my problems.

I have waited through two minor updates to ensure that what I upgrade to will actually work, but it now seems to be stable.

Update: It were appear to be successful with only minor mucking about to clear away all the “improvements” made to enhance “ease of use” that are simply annoying distractions.

CNN reports that the diversion into the Atchafalaya River basin has begun: First bay of Louisiana spillway opens, in attempt to lower river level

Morganza, Louisiana (CNN) — The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers opened the first of potentially several bays of the Morganza spillway on Saturday afternoon, a move intended to spare some areas from severe flooding while redirecting water into others.
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[Colonel Ed] Fleming said that one or two other additional bays of the flood-control structure would likely be opened Sunday, and more gates could be opened later depending on water levels. The Corps could choose to let out as much as 600,000 cubic feet of water per second, with Saturday’s opening leading to the release of 10,000 cubic feet per second.

“As the river needs it, we’ll open it,” said Fleming, referring to the spillway’s bays.

This is easily a 100-year event, as nothing like it was seen in the 20^th century, and may well be a 500-year event. It is to be hoped that nothing like it happens for at least another century.

Officials in Manitoba have had to breach a levee [dike] on the Assiniboine River to reduce the pressure on their flood control system that could result in a major failure. The CBC reports: Water flows through Manitoba dike breach

The intentional release of water through the Assiniboine River dikes at the Hoop and Holler Bend in Manitoba has begun.

The Manitoba government released a Twitter post saying the process began at 7 a.m. CT when two excavators made the first cut on the east and west sides of the release point, southeast of Portage la Prairie.

“We’ve never had to do anything like this in Manitoba flood-fighting history so this is certainly an unprecedented move that the province is engaging in,” Jay Doering, a professor of civil engineering at the University of Manitoba, said moments after the spill started.

Excavators initially created a 20-metre wide breach then began to remove rocks, bit by bit, from a makeshift dam built behind the dike.
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