Thousands of La. Homes and Farms Going Under Water

Army makes tough choice to save New Orleans, Baton Rouge BY MICHAEL KUNZELMAN ASSOCIATED PRESS

BUTTE LAROSE, La. -- In an agonizing trade-off, Army engineers said they will open a key spillway along the bulging Mississippi River as early as Saturday and inundate thousands of homes and farms in Louisiana's Cajun country to avert a potentially bigger disaster in Baton Rouge and New Orleans.

About 25,000 people and 11,000 structures could be in harm's way when the gates on the Morganza spillway are unlocked for the first time in 38 years.

Opening the spillway will release a torrent that could submerge about 3,000 square
miles under as much as 25 feet of water but take the pressure off the downstream
levees protecting New Orleans, Baton Rouge and the numerous oil refineries and
chemical plants along the lower reaches of the Mississippi.

Opening the spillway will release a torrent that could submerge about 3,000 square
miles under as much as 25 feet of water.


Missouri - inundating an estimated 200 square miles of farmland

Arkansas - 1,500 square miles of farmland flooded