{"id":129,"date":"2024-10-01T21:25:22","date_gmt":"2024-10-01T21:25:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/eportfolio.siue.edu\/keith-hawkins\/?p=129"},"modified":"2024-10-07T18:43:07","modified_gmt":"2024-10-07T18:43:07","slug":"multimodal-composition-1","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/eportfolio.siue.edu\/keith-hawkins\/2024\/10\/01\/multimodal-composition-1\/","title":{"rendered":"Multimodal Composition #1"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Keith Hawkins <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dr. Shea <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Research Team 120 <\/p>\n\n\n\n

6 September 2024 <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Multimodal #1 <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Water is the most prevalent source on the planet. Over 70% of the entire planet is covered by water so any type of water issue would most likely be important. I want to discuss water infrastructure, specifically the concept of building roads and businesses to be able to handle heavy rainfall without flooding.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Two years ago, in a town close to where I am from called Florissant Missouri, there was a heavy storm that caused a massive flood on a business strip called Florissant Meadows.\u00a0 The Florissant Meadows shopping center was a strip mall off the busy street of Lindbergh. Stores in this strip mall included Save A Lot, Walgreens, Dollar Tree, CVS Pharmacy, a DMV, a ST. Vincent De Paul thrift store, and more. On July 26, 2022, a storm flooded this strip mall and put businesses out for months and years.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is a picture of what the flood looked like outside of Walgreens from (nytimes.com) <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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I believe that this situation can be classified as a wicked problem. It is understood that in order to be a wicked problem, a situation must have six characteristics: a vague problem definition, an undefined solution, have no end point, be irreversible, unique, and urgent.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Florissant Meadows flood is a vague problem because it breeds an abundance of issues not just for the business owners but also for the community. Members of the local Florissant community relied heavily on stores like Save A Lot, Dollar Tree, and CVS for their everyday living. Save a lot and Dollar Tree were cheap and easily accessible ways for people to get groceries and more specifically produce without having to travel more than a couple of miles. The second closest available grocery store is located a little more than a mile down Lindbergh. That store is harder to reach for community members who don\u2019t have access to motor vehicles. The thrift store is one of the only places in the area to buy affordable clothing within two miles of the strip mall.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There is not one singular solution to the Florissant Meadows flood. The strip mall flood resulted from the area’s infrastructure and Coldwater Creek behind the strip mall overflowing. The surrounding area of Florissant Meadows is shaped like a gigantic bowl. When the heavy storm hit, all the water was stuck in the bowl’s center. A big creek being in the center of this bowl did not help the situation. A solution could be to move all the business to a different location so this can\u2019t happen again. But it is just not that simple. Some of the businesses are small local family-owned businesses and not big chain businesses. Those owners had to fight hard to open their stores again but still have that risk of losing everything.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is a picture of an empty Coldwater Creek from (alchetron.com) <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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To continue from the last sentence, there is no endpoint to the problem with Florissant Meadows. Another heavy storm can pass by and flood the strip mall again and hurt the community members and businesses. Any day or night their operations can be slowed or shut down depending on how mother nature feels.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here are some stories of some of the local business owners who were affected by the flooding. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Businesses reopen at Florissant Meadows Shopping Center | ksdk.com<\/a> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Florissant businesses closed due to floods; seeking help and answers | FOX 2 (fox2now.com)<\/a> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This flood did not just affect the business strip. People\u2019s homes were also flooded that night.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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