Yvette Michelle Crabtree Davis
April 7, 2008
Cecile D. St. Amant
April 9, 2008
The Bonnet Carre Spillway in St. Charles Parish could be opened within the next week and a half because of a rising water level in the Mississippi River.
Heavy rainfall flowing into the upper Mississippi River and into the Ohio and Arkansas Rivers, which are both tributaries of the Mississippi River, are swelling the water downstream. Opening the spillway diverts some Mississippi River water into Lake Pontchartrain and into the Gulf of Mexico, lowering the level of the river where it passes through the New Orleans area.
Terrebonne Parish Emergency Preparedness Director Jerrold Richard said the only part of the parish remotely threatened by the spillway opening would be Gibson. He said his office is monitoring the situation and will set up sandbags if appropriate.
St. Mary Parish Emergency Preparedness Director Duval Arthur said three floodgates at Morgan City and three at Berwick have been closed only as a precaution. The parish also has 500 to 1,000 sandbags prepared.
Lafourche Parish Emergency Preparedness Director Chris Boudreaux said his office is monitoring the situation and has sandbags prepared.
The decision whether to open the spillway will be made out of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers office in Vicksburg, Mississippi.
The spillway was last opened in 1997.
The Associated Press contributed to this article.
