UPDATED (3:45p 5/15) from Wolf Lake and the Goodhope Community

Sunday afternoon
We have been advised by Harold Horton that water flooding the area around the Yazoo County Airport is coming from Broad Lake.
He also said that water is going out one end of Wolf Lake faster than it is coming in the other, but that when the backflow catches up they are afraid the water will rise rapidly.


Saturday night's post
If you on If you are part of Harold Horton's Louise email list, you've gotten some of this already and I apologize for the duplication.

Shortly after 8 p.m. Saturday, Harold said officials had stopped all traffic into the Goodhope (Wolf Lake) Community as the water had begun its relentless rise.

At that time, he said, the water had started covering the road at his dad's place.

"It does not crest until Thursday," he wrote. "The water is coming out of the end of Wolf Lake and going across the road at a fast pace (at Carter)."

His brother, Terry, who was in the same grade with me, had left with a load from his home and, when he tried to return for more, was prevented from doing so by troops from the Mississippi National Guard. Harold said that at that time, Terry's yard was covered with water and there was a seven-foot alligator on the road!

With water crossing the blacktop, Good Hope Baptist Church is now in jeopardy and may already have water inside at this time. Based on Thursday updates, a flood elevation of 107 feet (2 feet of flood water) was anticipated, although Harold indicated the water was rising quickly. Most of the area is at 105 feet and the crest is not forecast until Thursday (May 19).

Harry Simmons, also in the same grade as Terry and I, built a levee around his home and 4 acres of catfish ponds in an effort to save his home and business (Simmons Farm Raised Catfish).

Highway 149 (what we knew as US 49) is now closed from the Whittington Flood Control Canal to Erickson Road, which is the road that runs alongside Wolf Lake at the old Wolf Lake Store and bridge.


Harold was not optimistic: "It does not look good for us and our old home place."

Prayers, please, for ours friends and families.

UPDATED (2:40 p.m., 5/17) Remembering Harmon Killebrew

Tuesday, May 17
Minnesota Twins Hall of Famer Harmon Killebrew died Tuesday, ending his battle with esophageal cancer. Last Friday, Killebrew announced he was endingf his 10-year battle with the disease and going to a hospice facility.

Friday, May 13
I grew up watching baseball on Saturday afternoon with Dizzy Dean and Pee Wee Reese handling the broadcast. It was a rite of passage with my dad, who loved his baseball.

Harmon Killebrew

Dad loved the St. Louis Cardinals, and I remember meeting Ol' Diz at what they called the Major League Park in Hattiesburg once ... and it was like they were old friends. To a kid who lived for Saturday afternoon baseball with his dad in a hot house and a black and white television, having Dizzy Dean shake my hand, ask me "How yuh doin', pod'nuh?" and talk baseball with Daddy and me ... well, that was about as good as it could get.

One of the stars we watched was Harmon Killebrew of Washington Senators and, after they moved in 1961, the Minnesota Twins.

The "Killer" was one of those guys who gave it all he had. He wasn't a big bruiser, only 5'11" and 210 pounds, but when he finished his 22-year professional career he was second only to Babe Ruth in American League home runs (573) and retired as the AL right-handed home run leader, although that record has since been broken.

He became one of the AL's most feared power hitters of the 1960s, belting 40 homers in a season eight times. In 1965, he helped the Twins reach the World Series, where they lost to the Los Angeles Dodgers. He had his finest season in 1969, hitting 49 home runs, recording 140 runs batted in (RBI), and winning the AL Most Valuable Player Award. Killebrew led the league in home runs six times and in RBI three times, and he was named to 11 All Star teams. He hit the most home runs for any major league player in the 1960s.

The interesting thing is, in an era when the pitching was better and players did not lift weights or use PEDs, these guys actually hit balls farther than players have since. Killebrew's famous homer at Metropolitan Stadium, still marked off at the Mall of America which stands on the site, is a great example. No one's hit one that far in Minneapolis since. No one hit one any further at Baltimore's old Memorial Stadium, either, and he is one of only four or five players to ever hit the ball over the left field roof at Tiger Stadium.

Oh, the Major League Baseball logo? The silhouette is that of Killebrew.

Because on Friday, he announced he was ending his fight against  his esophageal cancer and has settled in for the final days of his life, saddening friends and fans of the 74-year-old Hall of Fame slugger.

Killebrew was the model
for MLB's logo.

So why this love fest for the Killer from a diehard Yankees fan? 

In a statement released jointly by the Minnesota Twins and the National Baseball Hall of Fame, Killebrew said "it is with profound sadness" that he will no longer receive treatment for the "awful disease."

He said the cancer has been deemed incurable by his doctors and he will enter hospice care.

"With the continued love and support of my wife, Nita, I have exhausted all options," Killebrew said. He added: "I have spent the past decade of my life promoting hospice care and educating people on its benefits. I am very comfortable taking this next step and experiencing the compassionate care that hospice provides."

Killebrew, who's 11th on baseball's all-time home run list with 573, thanked his well-wishers for their support.

"I look forward to spending my final days in comfort and peace with Nita by my side," he said.

When my time comes, I hope God allows me to accept it with the grace and dignity of Harmon Killebrew. He's my hero.

Morganza videos

Here are a couple of videos on the Morganza Spillway.


Video 1 is a Corps of Engineers video telling what it is and what it is supposed to do.


http://blackjackoak.wordpress.com/2011/05/14/morganza-spillway-video-from-u-s-army-corps-of-engineers/


Video 2 was shot by the Corps of Engineers today at 3 and fed live. This was the narration from WDSU, Channel 6 in New Orleans. The NBC affiliate. One mistatement from the reporter was that today was the first and only day the spillway would be open.

http://www.wdsu.com/video/27896061/detail.html

A recap:

• Morganza was built in 1954

• Opened twice ... in the flood of 1973 and now

• Corps considers opening it when the flow on the Mississippi River reaches 1.5 million cfs at Red River Landing. That is the trigger point because at flows higher than that, the integrity of the levee system south of Baton Rouge is in jeopardy

• Only one gate is currently open, diverting 10,000 cfs from the Mississippi. To put that flow into perspective, at that rate, the water would fill the New Orleans Superdome in just 28 minutes.

• The reduced initial flow was designed to prevent scouring of the levees and to allow wildlife and people to remain ahead of the rising water. All areas that would be affected within the first 24 hours were totally evacuated prior to the 3 p.m. opening.

• The release, as long as the Mississippi flows in excess of 1.5 million cfs, will eventually reach 125,000 cfs — which is one-fourth of Morganza's capacity.

• Krotz Springs is the first populated area in the line of the flood water. There is an 80,000 barrels per day oil refinery owned by ALON USA that will cease operation. A levee has been built around the refinery and National Guardsmen raised a levee to protect more than 200 homes.

• Butte a la Rose is the only community that lies with the Atchafalaya Basin and will be inundated by the flood waters. The community is located on a high point where the Atchafalaya River makes a sharp bend and divides into the Little Atchafalaya River to the South and the Upper Grand River to the North. About 800 houses, or "camps" are within the area, which is expected to be under water ranging from 15-to-20 feet in depth.

Morganza Spillway opened at 3 p.m. (5/14)

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.