Announcement has just been made by Col. Ed Fleming of the US Army Corps of Engineers that the Morganza Spillway will be opened at 3 p.m. (CDT) today. It is the second time in history, and the first since 1973, for the spillway to be opened.
Fleming said the initial flow will be 10,000 CFS for the first 24 hours to prevent levee scouring, allow wildlife to flee and any remaining persons to get out of the Atchafalaya River basin.
At that rate of flow, the New Orleans Superdome would be filled with water in 28 minutes!
Fleming said based on the current river flow, a total of 125,000 CFS will be released into the spillway — or about 25 percent of the spillway capacity of 600,000 CFS.
He said based on current National Weather Service projections, the spillway in being opened two-to-four days prior to the flood crest reaching the Red River Landing and is expected to remain open for eight-to-10 days. The trigger point to open the Morganza structure is a Mississippi River flow of greater than 1.5 million cfs.
Fleming said state officials had checked and double-checked and all persons living in the area that would be reached within the first 24 hours have been evacuated.
He said the flow would gradually increase.
Just north of I-10, in the middle of the Atchafalaya Basin, the entire community of Butte LaRose, has been evacuated. The town is expected to be under between 15 and 20 feet of water in 36-to-48 hours.
The only viable comment is "Oh My Goodness"!!
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