Mississippi River Floods
NEW ORLEANS (AP) – The latest on Mississippi River flooding. (all times local)
4:30 p.m.
The National Weather Service says the Mississippi River was cresting Sunday at Tunica, Mississippi, and Helena, Arkansas.
Crest is predicted to happen Tuesday in Arkansas City, Arkansas; Wednesday in Greenville, Mississippi; Friday in Vicksburg, Mississippi; and Saturday in Natchez, Mississippi.
In Vicksburg and Natchez, low-lying areas have already started to flood, and local officials say they’re making plans to help residents who need to move temporarily.
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12:15 p.m.
The Louisiana National Guard is building barriers to protect against flooding in Morgan City and other towns in the southern part of the state.
Maj. Gen. Glenn H. Curtis, the adjutant general, says in a news release that levees worked in 2011 and he expects they will work again as water rises along the Mississippi River and in other areas.
The 256th Infantry Brigade Combat Team is building more than two miles of levees with temporary barriers on Avoca Island to prevent backwater flooding from reaching Morgan City and other towns.
The 2225th Multi-Role Bridge Company has created a ferry to transport personnel, equipment and materials to the island.
The National Guard did similar work in 2011.
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11 a.m.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has opened the Bonnet Carre (BAH-nee KAR-ee) Spillway after heavy rain in the Mississippi Valley and rising river water stages.
The Corps opened the spillway Sunday morning to divert river water into Lake Pontchartrain. The opening will help keep the volume of Mississippi River flows at New Orleans from exceeding 1.25 million cubic feet per second – enough to fill the Superdome in a minute and 40 seconds.
The Bonnet Carre has been opened 10 times, most recently during the record floods of 2011.
The spillway may be open for several weeks. All public access areas within the spillway are closed beginning Sunday until further notice
