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You know, we definitely have had our way above fair share of flood events.

So, you know, we had the big Mississippi River flood in 2011, but we had major floods in

2016, 17, 18, 19, 25 years in a row, major floods, never have we seen that before.

Flooding is a fact of life along the Mississippi, but people who live by the water will tell you

it's not the same river they grew up with.

Yeah. This is here and now anytime. From NPR and WBOR. I'm Chris Bentley.

We've got two special episodes for you, all about the river that shaped America, going back to before there even was a United States of America.

Today, climate change is just making the Mississippi River more unpredictable. Peter Odow and I traveled from the Missouri bootheel to the Mississippi Delta to talk to folks about living with water, and what happens when people and Mother Nature have different plans

for the land along the river's banks. Today, in part one, we'll look into the Yazoo Pumps,

a long-awaited project to protect farmland that environmental groups call a false promise.

They're masquerading as flood control to do people into believing that this is the panacea

for flooding in an area that is going to flood regardless. That water's supposed to be here.

Also, it took Anderson Jones five long years to rebuild his home after the floods of 2019.

Well, I never gave up, you know, because I always just trust the guy, you know,

because he's going to see you through that if you just hang in there.

His story coming up at about 10 minutes.

But first, people along the Mississippi are adapting to wild swings in the climate. Heavy rainfall, record-breaking floods, and sometimes even drought.

Extreme events can ruin valuable farmland and force people to flee their homes.

After catastrophic flooding in the Mississippi Delta, the government is moving ahead with a controversial plan to protect people

...