lower mississippi river flooding News

Drought and Low Mississippi River Levels Pose Challenges for Midwest Farmers’ Crop Transportation

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – A long stretch of hot, dry weather has left the Mississippi River so low that barge companies are reducing their loads just as Midwest farmers are preparing to harvest crops and send tons of corn …

Louisiana Spillway May Have to Be Opened for a Record 3rd Year in a Row

A major flood control structure on the Mississippi River may have to soon be opened up to ease pressure on New Orleans levees, federal authorities said on March 31. The river is expected to crest above 17 feet (5.2 meters) …

Viewpoint: Ground Will Shake and Snakes Will Flee as the Mississippi Drains

I was on site in 2011 when the Army freed the Mississippi from a man-made barrier and unleashed it into a large swath of rural Louisiana — a harrowing trade off that flooded homes and farms to avoid catastrophe in …

Winter Storms Cause Lower Mississippi River Flooding

For the second time in three years, the lower Mississippi River is flooding in January. High water is moving downriver from the junction with the Ohio River at Cairo, Illinois, where the Ohio crested over the weekend. The river is …

Flood Threat Subsiding Near New Orleans, Baton Rouge

The threat of flooding is subsiding across the lower Mississippi River region just two weeks after high waters devastated parts of the St. Louis area. The Mississippi probably won’t rise as high from Arkansas to New Orleans as earlier forecasts …