NEW ORLEANS — A surge of water not seen since the Great Mississippi Flood of 1927 is forecast in coming days to test the enormous levees lining the Mississippi River on its course through the Deep South, adding another element of danger to a region already raked by deadly tornadoes and thunderstorms.
Mississippi’s and Louisiana’s governors issued flood warnings Thursday and declared states of emergency. Authorities along the swollen waterway in both states are warning residents to brace for the possibility of flooding. Riverboat casinos in Mississippi are closing, and levee managers are readying sand bags and supplies — and the manpower to build the defenses — to fight the rising river along hundreds of levees in both states where the river crosses en route to the Gulf of Mexico.
“We’re going to do everything we can to prepare for the worst-case scenario while we still are hoping for the best case,” said Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal, adding that the state was prepared to withstand the test.
Since Hurricane Katrina in 2005, the Army Corps of Engineers has spent billions of dollars repairing levees and improving New Orleans’ flood protections, but the vast majority of that work has been focused on protecting the city from hurricane surge, not river flooding.
Although authorities who manage the levees express confidence that those structures can withstand the enormous surge, the high waters are expected to put pressure on the levees for as long as 10 days. That has officials concerned.
“It is going to be a slow-moving crest, and what that means is it does put pressure on those levees,” Jindal said.
River flooding, fed by heavy rains across the Mississippi River valley, is already a serious problem hundreds of miles upriver, particularly in Missouri, where the Army Corps of Engineers is considering whether to blow up a levee to relieve pressure in Cairo, Ill. — a bottleneck where the Ohio and Mississippi rivers meet.
As the water makes its way downriver, the lower portion of the Mississippi will be tested.
The river is forecast to crest at 53.5 feet May 18 at Vicksburg, Miss., a key gauge. That would be the highest river stage recorded at Vicksburg since the catastrophic flooding of 1927, when the river reached 56.6 feet and would have kept on rising if levees hadn’t given way, causing massive flooding and killing hundreds. After that calamity, the nation undertook an aggressive $13 billion plan to build levees and floodways that would avert such a scale of flooding again.
The crest of the high river is expected to reach New Orleans on May 22. Jindal said the Army Corps of Engineers was looking at opening a major spillway, the Bonnet Carre, just north of the city, to relieve pressure.
Those who manage the levees built up since 1927 expressed confidence in them.
“The levees are designed to withstand 65 feet,” said Robert Anderson, a corps spokesman in Vicksburg. But he added that “it has never been tested before quite like it has been tested now.”
“I do not expect any breaches on this levee system today. I think we can withstand the water,” said Reynold Minsky, president of the Fifth Louisiana Levee District, which oversees about 260 miles of levees along the Mississippi.
Helping tornado victims
• American Red Cross: U.S. mobile-phone users can text REDCROSS to 90999 to add $10 automatically to their phone bill. Or visit or call 800-733- 2767.
• Catholic Charities: The charity accepts disaster donations via phone (800-919-9338) or .
• Salvation Army: The charity is providing food, drinks and spiritual support to victims. Text GIVE to 80888 to donate $10 through your phone bill. Call 800-725-2769 or visit disaster.salvationarmyusa .
