River set to top flood stage at Vicksburg
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NATCHEZ, Miss. — The Mississippi River is expected to rise above flood stage sometime today, and authorities are concerned flooding could become a problem in the coming weeks.
Flood stage near Natchez is 48 feet above gauge zero. At 47 feet, water will begin to enter the former Belwood Golf Course and Carthage Point Road in southern Adams County.
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers spokesman Frank Whorley said the Corps plans to go into a phase I flood fight today.
“That means we will begin to patrol up and down the levees and provide assistance to the levee boards as we see they need it,” Whorley said.
A flood warning has been issued by the National Weather Service for the lower Mississippi River region.
Experts predict the river will continue to rise until it reaches its crest height near Natchez on April 6, when National Weather Service models predict it will reach a height of 53.5 feet.
That would be the highest the river has gotten in the area since 1997.
Weather service hydrologist Marty Pope said flood predictions are based on several factors.
“Basically, we look at what rainfall has fallen on the ground in our area,” Pope said.
“What makes it interesting for the Mississippi River is that you are looking at everything that is coming down the upper Mississippi River leg and the Ohio River where they come together at Cairo, Ill.”
Just across the river in from Natchez in Louisiana, the Concordia Parish Office of Emergency Preparedness will also begin levee patrols when the river reaches its flood stage, Director Morris White said.
The weather service also takes into consideration how much water the corps of engineers and the Tennessee Valley Authority are releasing from the dams they maintain.
Officials in Vicksburg, Miss., are also keeping a close watch on the water level. Flood stage at the city is 43 feet.
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