A look back at Birds Point - New Madrid Floodway

Army personnel guard US 60/62 near County Road 301 in Mississippi Wednesday, April 27, 2011. (Laura Simon)

Flooding along the Mississippi River edges closer to the top of Birds Point levee Wednesday, April 27, 2011. The Corps of Engineers will make the decision on the intentional breach this weekend. (Laura Simon)

The Mississippi River rises along the US 60/62 bridge Wednesday, April 27, 2011. (Laura Simon)

Farmland in Mississippi County will be compromised if the Corps of Engineers moves forward with the intentional breach of Birds Point levee Wednesday, April 27, 2011. (Laura Simon)

Flooding along the Mississippi River edges closer to the top of Birds Point levee Wednesday, April 27, 2011. The Corps of Engineers will make the decision on the intentional breach this weekend. (Laura Simon)

Flooding along the Mississippi River edges closer to the top of Birds Point levee Wednesday, April 27, 2011. The Corps of Engineers will make the decision on the intentional breach this weekend. (Laura Simon)

Work crews prepare Birds Point levee for a possible intentional breach Wednesday, April 27, 2011. The Corps of Engineers will make the decision on the breach this weekend. (Laura Simon)

Work crews prepare Birds Point levee for a possible intentional breach Wednesday, April 27, 2011. The Corps of Engineers will make the decision on the breach this weekend. (Laura Simon)

Work crews prepare Birds Point levee for a possible intentional breach Wednesday, April 27, 2011. The Corps of Engineers will make the decision on the breach this weekend. (Laura Simon)

Floodwater covers the land along US 60/62 near the Missouri/Illinois border Wednesday, April 27, 2011. (Laura Simon)

The city of Cairo, Ill., is dwarfed by the surrounding floodwater from the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers on Thursday, April 28, 2011. (Kristin Eberts)

Floodwater fills the fields inside the Mississippi river-bend northwest of Cairo on Thursday, April 28, 2011. (Kristin Eberts)

Jim Lloyd, operations team leader with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, shows an access well atop the Birds Point levee Friday, April 29, 2011 with floodwaters from the Mississippi River in the background. The Kentucky shore is in the distance. Crews would pump explosives in a slurry into pipes that are embedded in the levee in 1,000-foot lengths. (Fred Lynch)

Mississippi floodwaters at the Birds Point levee are seen on Friday, April 29, 2011. (Fred Lynch)

The Birds Point levee is seen on Friday, April 29, 2011 with the New Madrid Floodway, at left, and the Mississippi River floodwaters, at right. (Fred Lynch)

Maj. Gen. Michael Walsh speaks about Birds Point levee during a press conference Saturday, April 30, 2011 in Sikeston, Mo. (Laura Simon)

Maj. Gen. Michael Walsh speaks at a news conference with Gov. Jay Nixon, left, after they toured the Birds Point levee Sunday, May 1, 2011. (Fred Lynch)

A view towards Birds Point levee on Monday, May 2, 2011. (Laura Simon)

Precautionary sandbags are piled along Interstate 57 in Missouri just before the bridge to Cairo on Monday, May 2, 2011. (Laura Simon)

Precautionary sandbags are piled along Interstate 57 in Missouri just before the bridge to Cairo on Monday, May 2, 2011. (Laura Simon)

The National Guard blocks off Route 77 in Wyatt, Mo., on Monday, May 2, 2011. (Laura Simon)

The scene outside the news conference near Birds Point, Mo., on Monday, May 2, 2011. (Laura Simon)

Maj. Gen. Michael Walsh announces at a news conference May 2, 2011, that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers will activate the Birds Point-New Madrid Floodway. Col. Vernie Reichling Jr., center, also spoke. At right is U.S. Rep. Jo Ann Emerson. (Fred Lynch)

The National Guard, emergency responders and media line up on U.S. 60/62 in anticipation of the intentional breach of Birds Point levee Monday night, May 2, 2011. (Laura Simon)

The National Guard, emergency responders and media line up on U.S. 60/62 in anticipation of the intentional breach of Birds Point levee Monday night, May 2, 2011. (Laura Simon)

Maj. Gen. Michael Walsh, second from left, announces at a news conference on Monday, May 2, 2011, that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers will activate the Birds Point-New Madrid Floodway starting at 9 p.m. (Laura Simon)

Col. Vernie Reichling Jr., speaks at a news conference on Monday, May 2, 2011. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers will activate the Birds Point-New Madrid Floodway starting at 9 p.m. (Laura Simon)

Maj. Gen. Michael Walsh announces at a news conference on Monday, May 2, 2011, that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers will activate the Birds Point-New Madrid Floodway starting at 9 p.m. (Laura Simon)

The Birds Point levee breach looms beyond farmland in Mississippi County Monday night, May 2, 2011. (Laura Simon)

Water flows over the breached section of levee near New Madrid, Mo., after it was intentionally breached on Tuesday, May 3, 2011. On May 2, Maj. Gen. Michael Walsh gave the order to activate the Birds Point-New Madrid floodway, covering over 130,000 acres of farmland to ease flooding upstream. (Kristin Eberts)

Water flows over the breached section of Birds Point levee in Mississippi County, Mo., on Tuesday, May 3, 2011. On May 2, Maj. Gen. Michael Walsh gave the order to intentionally breach the Birds Point levee, flooding over 130,000 acres of farmland to ease flooding upstream. (Kristin Eberts)

Water from the Mississippi River, foreground, sweeps over the farmland in the Birds Point-New Madrid floodway, background, in Southeast Missouri on Tuesday, May 3, 2011. On May 2, Maj. Gen. Michael Walsh gave the order to intentionally breach the Birds Point levee, flooding over 130,000 acres of farmland to ease flooding upstream. (KRISTIN EBERTS)

Cairo, Ill., sits surrounded by water on Tuesday, May 3, 2011. On May 2, Maj. Gen. Michael Walsh gave the order to intentionally breach the Birds Point levee, flooding over 130,000 acres of farmland to ease flooding upstream, including Cairo. (Kristin Eberts)

Mississippi County Sheriff Keith Moore walks towards land owners as they return to Highway 102 Monday, May 9, 2011 after checking on their property in the floodway in Mississippi County. (Laura Simon)

Land owners return to Highway 102 Monday, May 9, 2011 after checking on their property in the floodway in Mississippi County. (Laura Simon)

Floodwater covers the farmland in the Birds Point-New Madrid floodway Monday, May 9, 2011. (Laura Simon)

Neal Tinnon, left, and David Brewer return to Highway 102 Monday, May 9, 2011 after checking on Tinnon's Mississippi County property in the floodway. He took a pet carrier with him in hopes of finding "Shop Cat" and her kittens, but came back empty handed. (Laura Simon)

David Brewer arrives back on Highway 102 Monday, May 9, 2011 after checking on Mississippi County property in the floodway. (Laura Simon)

The Mississippi River is still high along U.S. 60/62 near Birds Point levee Monday, May 9, 2011. (Laura Simon)

Land owners return to Highway 102 Monday, May 9, 2011 after checking on their property in the floodway in Mississippi County. (Laura Simon)

U.S. Department of Agriculture officials view the site of the first breach of the Birds Point Levee in Mississippi County Friday, May 20, 2011. (Melissa Miller)

The Birds Point levee drops off at this spot where the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers intentionally breached it May 2. The water along the levee has dropped about six feet as of Friday, May 20, 2011, since the levee breach. (Melissa Miller)

John Moreton walks along the eroded farmland Wednesday, June 1, 2011 in the Birds Point-New Madrid Floodway. (Laura Simon)

Mike Sprinkles, left, and Bobby Carter look out over the breached Birds Point levee Wednesday, June 1, 2011. (Laura Simon)

The floodwater in the Birds Point-New Madrid Floodway has left a trail of debris, mud and destruction in its path as seen on Wednesday, June 1, 2011. (Laura Simon)

Bobby Carter looks out over the breach in Birds Point levee Wednesday, June 1, 2011. The breach destroyed Carter's Windieville home leaving him homeless. (Laura Simon)

The floodwater in the Birds Point-New Madrid Floodway has receded leaving behind dry cracked silt on the surface of the land Wednesday, June 1, 2011. (Laura Simon)

Farmers get back into their fields Wednesday, June 1, 2011 in the Birds Point-New Madrid Floodway. (Laura Simon)

John Moreton walks along the eroded farmland June 1, 2011 in the Birds Point-New Madrid Floodway. (Laura Simon)

The breached Birds Point levee is shown Wednesday, June 15, 2011 beyond a washed-out section of a restricted road that connects with Mississippi County Road 301. (Fred Lynch)

A farmer works the field just west of the breached Birds Point levee Wednesday, June 15, 2011. A washed-out section of a restricted road to Mississippi County Road 301 is in the foreground. (Fred Lynch)

Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon, seated front passenger side, surveys the damage at the second breach site of the Birds Point levee Wednesday, July 13, 2011 near Big Oak Tree State Park in Mississippi County. (Laura Simon)

Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon, left, Col. Wendul Hagler, center, and Missouri State Parks Director Bill Bryan survey the damage from the first breach in the Birds Point levee Wednesday, July 13, 2011 in Mississippi County. Gov. Nixon surveyed the damage in the Birds Point-New Madrid Floodway Wednesday. (Laura Simon)

Col. Wendul Hagler surveys the damage from the second breach point in the Birds Point levee Wednesday, July 13, 2011. (Laura Simon)

People pale in comparison to the hole left by the second breach of the Birds Point levee Wednesday, July 13, 2011. (Laura Simon)

Construction crews work to repair damage to the Birds Point-New Madrid Floodway Wednesday, July 13, 2011 at the scene of the first breach in the Birds Point levee in Mississippi County. (Laura Simon)

Visitors look out over the first breach in the Birds Point levee Wednesday, July 13, 2011 in Mississippi County. (Laura Simon)