Army Corps open 2 more Mississippi River spillway gates

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May 15, 2011 ARCHIVES  |  Weather  |  NEWS

Windsor Genova - AHN News News Writer

Morganza, LA, United States (AHN) - Crews from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers opened two more gates of the Morganza Spillway on Sunday to prevent Baton Rouge and New Orleans from being flooded by the rising Mississippi River.

The opening of the two gates bring to four the total number of gates opened to divert flooding to farmlands and rural areas in Louisiana as water flowing in the Mississippi River reached the dangerous level of 1.5 million cubic feet per second.

Some 40,000 cubic feet of water was coming out per second from the opened gates on Sunday and moving to the Atchafalaya Basin. The water will eventually flow into the Gulf of Mexico.

The first two bays of the spillway were opened for the first time since 1973 on Saturday afternoon and evening. A total 31 of 125 gates will be opened to ease pressure from the Mississippi River.

Up to 3,000 miles of land is expected to be flooded and 25,000 people affected with the opening of 31 Morganza Spillway gates.

Copyright 2011 by (AHN)
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Swollen Mississippi River sets record high at Natchez, Mississippi and still rising

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May 11, 2011 ARCHIVES  |  Weather  |  NEWS

Linda Young - AHN News Writer

Tunica, MS, United States (AHN) - The swollen Mississippi River has residents of Mississippi, Arkansas and Louisiana bracing for the inevitability of flooding now that the flood crest has passed Memphis.

Flood stage is 37 feet at Memphis and the Mississippi River crested at 47.8 feet on Tuesday, just shy of a 1937 record.

Rain and snowmelt along the river and its tributaries has resulted in one of the worst flood events since the 1937 flood for many towns along its 2,320-mile course.

Some 3 million acres of land are under floodwater in Tennessee, Arkansas and Missouri. Some farmers have lost their crops for the year.

Flood stage is 48 feet in Natchez, Mississippi where a new water level record of 58.3 feet was set Wednesday morning with the river still rising and forecasts calling for it to crest in that city at 64 feet.

Meanwhile, the Mississippi River reached flood stage of 17 feet in New Orleans today, but the flood crest is not expected to reach that city for several more weeks.

Copyright 2011 by (AHN)
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