They call it the Vidalia Riverfront — a strip of land between the Mississippi River and the levee, with a park, walking trail, a camp ground, and $75 million worth of buildings that generate 300 jobs for this town of 5,000.
It seems counterintuitive to build on an area outside the towering levee designed to protect from river flooding, but Vidalia, La., Mayor Hyram Copeland said that the area seemed safe enough when construction started in 1997.
“Each one of these is high enough to survive the 100-year flood,” Copeland said. “But this is the 500-year flood.”
The worst flood in Vidalia was in 1938, when the Mississippi crested at 58.4 feet. On May 21, Copeland said the river was expected to crest at 64 feet — not high enough to flood the town, but enough to drown the town’s very important riverfront with its hospital, medical center, massive hotel and convention center. And, he said, the two wells that supply Vidalia with water are also located in the strip.
On May 9, workers rushed to complete the eight-foot, mini-levees built around each of the buildings, a system of sand bags and wire mesh designed to stand up to the rising river. The two wells have been surrounded with the newly constructed levees and then topped with clay and a plastic cover that is anchored with cement blocks.
“If we lose those, we’ll be without water for about two months,” Copeland said. “You can imagine what a mess that would be.”
Although he is sure the buildings and wells will survive thanks to the newly installed barriers, the flood will not be without costs, Copeland said. Each of the businesses is empty, except for security personnel, and those 300 workers are sitting home waiting for the water to recede.
“It may be two months before they can open again,” Copeland said. “Can you imagine the losses for the hotel? The costs of evacuating all those patients?”
Vidalia alone has coughed up $2.5 million for the protection effort, a severe blow to the town’s budget, Copeland said.
Also on May 9, the Army Corps of Engineers partially opened a spillway to protect the New Orleans area from the river’s rising waters. To ease pressure on the greater New Orleans levee system, the corps opened 28 of the Bonnet Carre Spillway’s 350 bays for only the 10th time since it was completed in 1931. Several hundred curiosity-seekers watched from the bank as workers used cranes to remove some of the spillway’s wooden barriers, which serve as a dam against the high water.
Col. Ed Fleming, commander of the corps’ New Orleans district, said officials will monitor the river levels before deciding whether to open more bays.
The corps also has asked for permission to open the Morganza spillway north of Baton Rouge, which diverts river water into the Atchafalaya Basin.
Maj. Gen. Michael J. Walsh — president of the Mississippi River Commission and commander of the Vicksburg, Miss.-based division of the Corps — said the spillway opening likely would be approved and the river diversion opened sometime between May 14 and May 17.
“You could start to see water flowing as early as the end of this week,” Gov. Bobby Jindal said.
Walsh told lawmakers that Louisiana State University and other infrastructure south of Baton Rouge would be flooded and the levees possibly overtopped at various sites along a 200 mile-stretch south of the capital city if the Morganza Spillway isn’t opened.
Completed by the corps in 1954, Morganza hasn’t been opened since 1973. Jindal has requested three to five days to evacuate people, if the decision is made to open it.
“We’ve already seen some sheriffs go and provide notifications to folks that they may want to think about evacuating. We’ve seen some folks move their property to higher ground,” Jindal said.
Concordia Parish, upriver from Baton Rouge, encouraged residents Monday to start packing up valuables in preparation for a possible evacuation of homes.
“We’re just advising people to be aware and stay alert,” said Concordia Parish Police Jury President Melvin Ferrington. “The last thing we want to do is cause a panic.”
Maj. Neal Horath, of the Madison Parish Sheriff’s Office, said the river is expected to crest at 57.5 feet on May 19. In the meantime, he said deputies have mainly been keeping the public off the levees and checking for seepage or sand boils along the structures.
“They’ve never actually been tested before so we’re a little anxious to see if they will hold,” he said.
State officials moved some prisoners from the state penitentiary at Angola in West Feliciana Parish, north of Baton Rouge, as backwaters rose. Eight buses and several vans under police escort moved inmates with medical problems. A trailer carrying livestock left the facility, which includes a farm in its operations.
Nearly 200 people were evacuated, though more could be taken out later. Inside the prison, some prisoners were being moved to less vulnerable buildings.
Molly Davis in Baton Rouge also contributed to this report.
Topics Flood Louisiana Mississippi
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