While President Barack Hussein Obama (mm mmm mmmm) continued his victory lap in a clown car yesterday, in celebration of his gustsy call in ordering the death of Osama bin Laden, residents of the Mid-South were being forced out of their homes by the worst flood of the Mighty Mississippi River since 1937.

In my hometown of Memphis, Tennessee, volunteers and convicts have spent that last few days filling sandbags in an attempt to somehow stem the flooding of America’s largest waterway.

As of this morning, Ol’ Muddy was sitting at 46.2 feet, on it’s way to 48 feet by this Wednesday.  The community of Frayser, in North Memphis, is flooded, with one of it’s main throughfares, Highway 51 and Watkins, completely closed to traffic.

Riverside Drive and historic Beale Street are closed due to the backing up of storm drains.

Mud Island River Park, which you may have seen featured in the Tom Cruise movie, The Firm, is closed due to the flood, and the high income residential community, Harbor Town, on the other end of the island, is being evacuated , for reasons shown by the picture below.

And, for the first time in its history, the annual World Famous Memphis in May Barbeque Cook-off, which draws contestants from all over the world,  has had to be moved from Tom Lee Park, beside the river, to Tiger Lane, beside Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium.

Bob Nations, director of emergency management for Shelby County, which includes Memphis, said there was still time to get out, with the crest not expected until Wednesday.

Speaking of the evacuation notices that they were handing out door-to-door, Nations said:

This does not mean that water is at your doorstep. This means you are in a high-impact area.

About 950 households in Memphis and about 135 other homes in Shelby County were getting the notices. Shelters were opened, and the fliers include a phone number to arrange transportation for people who need it.

Down in the Delta town of Tunica, Mississippi, reborn as Las Vegas South, the flooding is having a horrible impact.  Per commercialappeal.com:

Tunica County stands to lose $3.5 million in gaming revenue tax collections, and the state another $7 million, if the county’s nine casinos remain closed for all of May because of high water.

“The closing of our nine casino properties will only exacerbate an already major economic crisis on a state and local level,” Webster Franklin, CEO of the Tunica Convention & Visitors Bureau, said in releasing some startling economic impact numbers Tuesday.

…Numbers released Tuesday by the Tunica Convention & Visitors Bureau reveal the anticipated economic impact of flooding on Tunica’s casino operations:

Tunica’s nine casinos have averaged about $87 million in gross gaming revenue during May over the past three years. Based on that average, closing the casinos for all of May would mean a loss of about $10.5 million in state and local collections from the Mississippi gaming tax imposed on the gross revenues.

About 4,600 hotel rooms have been closed, meaning a loss of about $6.2 million in room revenue for the month based on a 75 percent occupancy rate.

About 38 percent of the total square footage of gaming space in the state, or about 521,410 square feet, is affected by the closings.

About 9,300 jobs, with a monthly payroll of about $18 million, have been lost temporarily. Most casinos have announced plans to compensate employees for at least two weeks’ pay while they’re off, but the circumstances vary from property to property.

After speaking to several  casino employees this week, I’ve been told that they’ve been encouraged by the casino human resources departments to file for Unemployment Compensation from the state of Mississippi while they are off work due to the flooding.

Workers from the Mississippi Department of Wildlife and Fish and from the Department of Homeland Security are assisting local law enforcement in keeping looters and the overly curious away from the casino properties.

Americans are suffering, where is the President of the United States? 

He’s been busy wrapping up his self-congratulatory-I-got-bin-Laden-Magical-Mystery-Tour, which included his first trip to Ground Zero in New York City since 2008.

Yesterday, he went to Fort Campbell, Kentucky, to congratulate those involved in the assassination of bin  Laden.  Of course, he gave a speech, making sure the cameras were catching every word.

Today, he gave his weekly address.  Did he mention the thousands of Americans being affected by the flooding of the Mississippi River?

Nope.  He spoke about Clean, Green (as in money) Energy.  Per whitehouse.gov:

Speaking to the American people from Indianapolis, Indiana, President Obama said that clean energy companies like Allison Transmissions will keep the economy growing, create new jobs, and make sure America remains the most prosperous nation on Earth.  Clean energy is also part of the ultimate solution to high gas prices.  Until we reduce our dependence on oil, we will be held hostage to the ups and downs of the oil markets.  That means we need to continue to invest in clean, alternative sources of energy – like advanced biofuels and natural gas – and more efficient cars, buses and trucks.

Great, while thousands of Americans are being effecting by the flooding and the recent Southern tornadoes, on top of the 1/6th receiving food stamps and all those who are unemployed, instead of addressing the suffering of Americans, Scooter is worried about making money for his buddy Jeffrey Immelt and his company G.E., and their pie-in-the-sky plans for building windmills to produce energy.  Meanwhile, gas prices continue to climb out of control and average Americans are struggling horribly to keep a roof over their heads.

And the President of the United States, like  Ol’ Man River, just keeps rollin’ along.