The bed of the Mississippi has dropped to levels not seen in several years due to a long period of low rainfallwhich is disrupting river transport to the Gulf of Mexico, a key hub for the US economy and exports. But the drought has also left a few surprises.
And it is that the low water level of the Mississippi now allows access to Tower Rock Island on foot. The islet is normally surrounded by water and can only be reached by boat, but now you can walk to the island without any problem. “The river has receded enough that you can walk up to Tower Rock without getting your feet wet or muddy,” he says. CNN Jeff Biget, resident de Missouri. “I only remember seeing something like this once in my life.”
The images are amazing: several people walk through the rocky bed of the river to the tower of the island. In fact, the road is expected to get much easier in the coming weeks as water levels continue to drop.
One of the worst droughts in recent years
“More than 55% of the contiguous states in the country are facing drought,” says the US Drought Monitor. More than 133 million people live in these areasmaking it the largest drought-affected population since 2016: covering more than 70% of Arkansas and nearly 40% of Missouri.
“I’ve seen a little drop in water levels and I’ve seen them super high too, but I’ve never seen them this low”, explains Bailey White, who lives in Tennessee, to the aforementioned chain. “We mightn’t even put our little boat in the river. We had to try five different springs until we got it right. It’s a small boat so it doesn’t sink deep into the water, but we had to be vigilant a few times or we would have hit the sand.”
This is not the first time that Tower Rock has been accessible on foot. Elainna Froemsdorf, a resident of the area, took advantage of a holiday to take her grandchildren on foot to the islet and assured that they became the third generation of their family to walk to the island. “I’ve never done anything like this before, and it was a bit challenging, but fun,” his granddaughter Adilyn Chowder told KFVS.