Muskrat Brings Down Levee

[GeoPatSK Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close GeoPatSK]

A burrowing muskrat brought down the saturated Pin Oak, MO levee shortly before dawn.

Many of the 720 residents of Winfield and people from surrounding communities have spent the last several days helping the National Guard patch one trouble spot after another.

In the end, their efforts were undone by an animal that weighs no more than 5 pounds. Officials said holes bore by a muskrat that was either seeking food or building a den led brought the levee down.



Officials hope sandbags will save eastern Mo. town - Yahoo! News

[Gary1998 Member Find all posts View Profile Close Gary1998]

Sad. One of the most critical aspects of proper levee maintenance is not permitting burrowing animals to dig holes in them. Burrowing animals can greatly weaken levees. Unfortunatley, many communities do not do a very good job of maintaining levees once they have been built.