The Mississippi is low here now.

[arsenix2001]

Glad to hear its getting better. Am I the only weirdo that actually thinks its kinda neat to see all of the engineering at work? Either way, hope it all gets better soon.:thumbsup:

 

[EastTexFrank]

Glad to hear its getting better. Am I the only weirdo that actually thinks its kinda neat to see all of the engineering at work? Either way, hope it all gets better soon.:thumbsup:

I wouldn't call you weird. It's kinda neat to see all that stuff move into action even though, with the Morganza open, it'll probably flood out a couple of friends of mine. One is only about 5' above sea level. He's been moving stuff to high ground in Mississippi for days. He said he's now in a position to ride it out. He's got his pontoon boat stocked and tied off and he's staying to protect what's his. The other one may get lucky. It depends on how high the waters get but there will only be a few feet in it, one way or the other.

It's going to flood hundreds of square miles of Louisiana and cause untold misery to a lot of people but Baton Rouge and New Orleans should be safe.

 

[dooleysm]

We got almost 17" of rain in a 10 day period late last month. It's rained several inches since then, but nothing out of the ordinary. Flooding is just now getting under control in my little part of southern Indiana (Patoka Lake/River and White River and all their tributaries). Some low lying river bottoms have water in them, but no more than in a typical Spring, just a bit later in the year than normal.

 

[tallyho8]

We have a medical trip planned to Kenner, LA next Sunday - Tuesday. We usually take 190 east from Opelousas or I-10 East from Lafayette. Both of these highways go over a portion of the Atchafalaya basin. I emailed the LA DOT about conditions and they have not responded. I looked at webcams on their website and it looks OK right now, but I understand the water levels are due to increase all week and peak next Tuesday when we are in Kenner. We'd like to get home too (north Texas).

Those roadways appear to be elevated but I not only worry about flooding ANYWHERE along the route which would shut the whole thing down, but also huge traffic jams from people trying to evacuate the area.

Any word on expected highway conditions down there?

I don't expect any flooding or any traffic problems on I-10. There are very few people evacuating compared to when a hurricane is approaching, so they will cause no traffic concerns.

The good part about the flood is that the sediment from the flood in the Morganza floodway will build up many low-lying areas and create many acres of new land. It is a shame that some people have chosen to build on these low areas around the floodway because it would benefit the state of Louisiana to open the floodway every year to capture the many tons of sediment lost each year into the gulf.

 

[Alan L.]

I don't expect any flooding or any traffic problems on I-10. There are very few people evacuating compared to when a hurricane is approaching, so they will cause no traffic concerns.

The good part about the flood is that the sediment from the flood in the Morganza floodway will build up many low-lying areas and create many acres of new land. It is a shame that some people have chosen to build on these low areas around the floodway because it would benefit the state of Louisiana to open the floodway every year to capture the many tons of sediment lost each year into the gulf.

Thanks for that information!

 

[Alan L.]

We made the trip fine. Went down on I-10 and back on LA 190, both over the Atchfalaya Basin. We could see the water levels were up and that water was in trees and areas it normally is not, up to various levies. But we didn't see any homes flooded in the areas you can see from those highways. There were signs warning of animal crossings on both highways, in fact there was what I thought was a cop parked on the side of 190 this afternoon, but on the side of his truck was the sign "Wildlife Patrol" or something like that.

We went right down to the Mississippi in New Orleans and could tell it was up from last time we were there back in November, but well contained. The river in Baton Rouge looked more out of its banks, we could see water up into the trees and telephone poles sticking up out of the water in places. The levies had it contained.