Vittorio Hernandez - AHN News
Kratz Springs, LA, United States (AHN) - Residents of Louisiana near the swollen Mississippi River fled for their safety on Sunday, while a last-ditch effort to place sandbags and makeshift levees outside their homes was made.
While residents were fleeing for their safety to higher ground, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers opened two additional gates on the same morning on the Morganza spillway.
Two bays were opened by the corps on Saturday in an attempt to spare Baton Rouge and New Orleans from severe flooding.
The opening of two additional gates was expected to affect about 3,000 square miles of land, 25,000 residents who live hear the river and 11,000 buildings.
It is the first time in 40 years that the Mississippi's water level has forced the opening of floodgates. Officials said it is the worst flooding in the state since 1927.
According to the Army Corps of Engineers, unless the spillway was opened, New Orleans would have been flooded by about 20 feet (6 meters) of water.
Opening the Morganza Spillway, located 45 miles (72 kilometers) northwest of Baton Rouge, would enable engineers to control the flow of floodwaters, and divert them around Baton Rouge into the Atchafalaya river basin.
The water will now flow south and inundate homes and farms in Cajun country under 10 to 20 feet (3 to 6 meters) of water.
Col. Ed Fleming, commander of the Corps' New Orleans District, hinted that some of the spillway's gates would likely be opened for weeks before the river level falls below flood stage and before the evacuees could return home safely.
Authorities in St. Landry Parish issued a forced evacuation order that affected 2,000 people, including 750 people from 240 homes in Kratz Springs. But residents in other areas were under a voluntary evacuation.
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