Mississippi River Receding Quickly in Mississippi

With the Mississippi River receding at quick pace, officials opened the Steele Bayou flood control gates in Vicksburg May 8.

That means water should also start receding from the 344,000 acres of flooded forest and farmland in the Yazoo River backwater area. Farmers and residents in flooded areas feared the gates might be closed till later this month, but the rapidly receding Mississippi allowed the gates to be opened sooner.

“Normally, when the river gets as high as it has, it doesn’t fall this fast,” said Robert Simrall, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers chief of water control in the Vicksburg district. “We have been extremely lucky.”

The river was 7 to 8 feet above flood stage when it crested last month. More than 800,000 acres were under several feet of water for more than a month after heavy rains in the Ohio and Arkansas river valleys started a steady climb of floodwaters in the Mississippi Delta.

“We’re relieved,” said Jesse Willis, whose farming operations include 1,400 acres of land near Valley Park.

Like many farmers, Willis has been waiting for the water to subside to decide his next move. He lost about 100 acres of corn and has been waiting to apply herbicide and fertilizer to his surviving acreage until the river made its move.

“It’s been too wet for us to take a chance. There’s been a lot of small showers recently. Probably in three to four days we’ll be going full blast,” he said, adding he anticipates his flooded land will be dry and ready to plant by early June.

The Steele Bayou gates were opened by noon on May 8 and Simrall expects about 3 feet of water to drain out of the backwater area over the next 10 days.

Willis said lower than usual rainfall over the backwater area in the last two months saved many more acres. Two to 3 inches of rain fell in the backwater area, 4 to 6 inches below average.

“It’s a tough situation, but we’re still in better shape than we could have been with normal rainfall,” he said.

The falling river also has allowed public access at City Front on Levee Street and officials have reopened Mississippi 465 and LeTourneau Road. LeTourneau Technologies will return its entire employee and contractor work force of roughly 1,400 people May 12.
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Information from: The Vicksburg Post,