With an emergency spillway opened for the first time in 38 years, engineers hope rerouting the water will spare the downriver cities of Baton Rouge & New Orleans.
Spillway gushes water through Cajun country
Flood waters of the Mississippi River threaten a large oil refinery complex in Baton Rouge, La., on Friday.
(Chris Todd / EPA)
Residents of Vicksburg, Miss., take advantage of the raised railroad tracks north of the city to fish in the Mississippi River flood waters late Thursday, May 12. The fishermen along the tracks were treated to the sight of a 10-foot long alligator swimming in the waters.
(Rogelio V. Solis / AP)
Workers look for minor imperfections to correct before pinning down high density polyethylene covering on the backside of the Yazoo Backwater Levee in Vicksburg on May 10. The cover will act as a barrier if overtopping occurs and will inhibit backside erosion of the levee.
(Sean Gardner / Reuters)
The Mississippi River in Memphis, Tenn., as seen on April 21, 2010 in the satellite image on the left, and during it's crest on May 10, 2011, at right. The river reached 47.8 feet, just under the record of 48.7 feet set in 1937. Mud Island river park can be seen in the upper right corner.
(NASA)
Water swamps a casino flooded by the Mississippi River in Tunica, Miss., on May 10.
(Dan Anderson / EPA)
Jermaine Jarrett surveys a flooded street in his neighborhood in Memphis, Tenn., on May 9.
(Scott Olson / Getty Images)
