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Southern US Communities Brace for Massive Flooding

   VOA News  May 13, 2011
   An aerial view of the areas along the levee that are topping over in
   Lake Providence , Louisiana, May 12, 2011

Photo: AP

   An aerial view of the areas along the levee that are topping over in
   Lake Providence , Louisiana, May 12, 2011

   U.S. authorities are close to opening a massive spillway in the
   southern state of Louisiana in an effort to protect the cities of Baton
   Rouge and New Orleans from massive Mississippi River flooding.
   At the same time, the Army Corps of Engineers says opening the Morganza
   Spillway will affect 2,500 people and flood 1.2 million hectares of
   farm and rural property.
   Flood of the century
   Some officials are calling the rising waters the "flood of the
   century." There already has been vast upstream damage to homes, crops
   and businesses. The U.S. insurance industry says that natural disasters
   in the U.S. this spring, including the flooding and last month's
   devastating tornadoes, have already caused $5 billion in damages.
   As the waters of the Mississippi River continue to rise on their
   eventual flow to the Gulf of Mexico, officials say ponds for catfish
   farming in the state of Mississippi could be inundated, endangering a
   $200 million-a-year business. Cotton crops are also at risk.
   Obama visit
   U.S. President Barack Obama is set to visit on Monday Tennessee's
   largest city, Memphis, where the river crested at near record levels
   earlier this week. He plans to give a graduation speech at a high
   school and also meet with victims of the flooding and officials coping
   with the clean-up efforts.
   Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal says his state will do everything it
   can to protect people and property in the flood zone.
   Spillway opening
   For the Army Corps, the decision on whether to open the Morganza
   Spillway is one of choosing which part of the state will flood - the
   heavily populated cities of Baton Rouge and New Orleans, or the rich
   farmlands elsewhere in the state. The Morganza Spillway, a channel that
   can divert Mississippi water to another river system, has been used
   only once before, in 1973.
   New Orleans is still recovering from devastation it sustained from
   Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Many sections of the city have not been
   rebuilt, and thousands of its residents who left have not returned.
   The Red Cross says it has ample shelters to accommodate residents
   displaced by the flooding. They could be out of their homes for several
   weeks until the water recedes.

   Some information for this report was provided by AP.

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