The River

A couple of people have emailed or called to ask about the Mississippi River since they know Jett is working on it, so I thought I would give an update. Please see below the pictures for the newspaper write up on the river. As for Jett's job, here are a couple of pictures to show how much it has risen in a weeks time. If you want, you can save this website http://flatironcorp.oxblue.com/jjab/ as a favorite and you can check on the images.

On April 2nd, this is what it looked like:





And here it is today:




Here is what the Baton Rouge Newspaper published today: (Point Coupee Parish is the New Roads side of the river project that the bridge is connecting to)

"As water levels continue to rise, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has stepped up its monitoring of levees along the Mississippi and Atchafalaya rivers.

“We have moved up to our second phase of flood-fight activation which includes daily inspections,” said Eric Hughes, spokesman with the corps’ New Orleans District.

In other developments, some farmers in Pointe Coupee Parish lost their fight to keep their fields from flooding while state corrections officials may move prisoners from the Louisiana State Penitentiary at Angola if conditions warrant.

As of Monday, corps staff are monitoring the levees along the Atchafalaya and Mississippi rivers in 12-hour shifts every day, Hughes said.

Areas of concern include any levee scouring on the river side or sand boils on the land side, which would indicate water pressure forcing water under the levee.

With the experience of floods in 1973, 1983, 1984 and 1997, corps staff know where these sand boils are traditionally found and where they might need to focus additional attention, said Lee Guillory, natural disaster manager for the corps, New Orleans District.

The New Orleans District is responsible for the approximately 760 miles of levees and floodwalls in the Mississippi River and Tributaries program that extend from Concordia Parish to the Gulf of Mexico, Guillory said.

So far, the corps hasn’t found any areas of concern along the levees, he said.

“Just the routine seepage areas and sand boils that we routinely see when the river gets high,” Guillory said.

A decision on whether to open the Bonnet Carré Spillway north of New Orleans to relieve high water pressure downriver is still under consideration, Hughes said.

In Pointe Coupee Parish, some farmers lost their battle to keep the rising water out of their fields.

From March 20 until Sunday, these farmers — with help from the community, businesses and the Louisiana National Guard — raised the levee with 4-foot square bags of dirt.

This 2.2-mile stretch of small levee is designed to let water into a holding area bordered by two large guide levees if the river reaches a certain height.

Marty Graham, one the farmers who use the property to plant wheat, soybeans and other crops, said they worked until Sunday evening but needed to pull equipment and people out of the area because of the danger.

“The river was coming up too fast,” Graham said.

Minor overtopping of the large dirt bags started Sunday, but by Monday there was major overtopping, he said.

On Tuesday, Gov. Bobby Jindal requested assistance for farmers in the spillway and asked the U.S. secretary of agriculture to declare Pointe Coupee Parish a disaster area and for USDA benefits to be made available.

In Baton Rouge, levees continue to be monitored daily by the city-parish, which has jurisdiction over about 2 miles of levee from downtown to just north of LSU, and the Pontchartrain Levee District, which has jurisdiction along the east bank of the river from north of LSU through St. Charles Parish.

The river is forecast to crest in Baton Rouge at 41 feet April 16. During the last major high water event, in 1997, the river crested at 43.8 feet, according to the National Weather Service.

Since March 24, Pontchartrain Levee District staff have submitted daily inspection reports to the corps, said Monica Salins, executive director of the levee district.

They haven’t found any problems, she said.

The district also has maintenance crews, levee district police and people who live along River Road keeping an eye on possible levee problems, she said.

River traffic on the swollen river is being monitored and directed in part through a traffic control center in downtown Baton Rouge, said Chief Matthew Valenti, public affairs officer with the U.S. Coast Guard Baton Rouge.

There are some restrictions on river traffic on things like necessary engine horsepower and how many barges can be moved by a vessel, but so far things are going smoothly, he said.

Karen St. Cyr, a spokeswoman for the Port of Greater Baton Rouge, said the high water has not affected any of the port’s facilities.

The state Department of Public Safety and Corrections and the Louisiana Sheriffs Association are working on a plan to move prisoners from Louisiana State Penitentiary at Angola to other prisons if the river threatens their safety.

After the river’s 1997 record crest of 61.3 feet at Red River Landing near Angola nearly blew out the prison’s levees, the state and the Corps of Engineers strengthened and raised the flood protection structures.

Angola spokeswoman Cathy Fontenot said the levees are 66 feet high, but since they have not been seriously tested by a major flood, officials have decided to move inmates if the river reaches 63 feet at Red River Landing.

The river is forecast to crest in the area at 58.5 feet April 16, but Fontenot said prison officials are waiting to see if the forecast is revised upward.

West Feliciana Parish Sheriff J. Austin Daniel said the public should understand that Angola inmates will not be evacuated to parish jails.

Only state prisoners who pose less of a security risk will be moved to parish jails to make room for Angola prisoners in other state prisons, he said."