We keep seeing insane pictures and videos as the Mississippi River drops lower and lower. It has been exposing quite a few of its secrets while it does so. There was a sunken riverboat recently discovered up north, homes, abandoned cars, and more.

Kelsey Mitchell
Kelsey Mitchell
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The river actually does indeed drop as we get into the fall season, but due to a dry summer up north, the parts up there have not been able to feed the mighty Mississippi with a freshwater source to keep its levels up for the winter season. This means that not only do the levels drop, but the liquid highway used to transport goods up and down the river are getting harder and harder to do so.

Kelsey Mitchell
Kelsey Mitchell
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16 rail cars, or 62 semi-trucks. That's what it would take to transport the same amount of product a single barge can hold and float down, or up, the river. That means not only will it take more time to move that same amount of product, but more money as well. That also means that products waiting to be transported will wait even longer and could possibly go bad while it's waiting to be transported. The other big issue is that the river itself provides fresh drinking water to some areas, and with it not having its normal flow, the salt from the Gulf of Mexico is beginning to push its way back up.

With the bad, sometimes you have to look at a few good things. The famous USS Kidd that resides In Baton Rouge is now fully exposed. Kelsey Mitchell and her family decided to go take a look at the belly of the ship and really get a close-up look at it. The belly of the ship has been exposed for quite some time, but it's not getting dry enough on the river bed that you can really walk around and explore it. It's both quite amazing, but also quite sad at the same time as we watch the mighty Mississippi go through such a drastic change.

LOOK: The most expensive weather and climate disasters in recent decades

Stacker ranked the most expensive climate disasters by the billions since 1980 by the total cost of all damages, adjusted for inflation, based on 2021 data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). The list starts with Hurricane Sally, which caused $7.3 billion in damages in 2020, and ends with a devastating 2005 hurricane that caused $170 billion in damage and killed at least 1,833 people. Keep reading to discover the 50 of the most expensive climate disasters in recent decades in the U.S.

 

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