Residents Flee Spillway Waters

Butte LaRose is “like a ghost town” after yesterday’s opening of the Morganza spillway, says one resident. People started clearing out their belongings last week and most were gone by today, when the water was expected. A sign outside town warns that animals, too, are likely fleeing for higher ground and warned motorists to be aware of crossing wildlife. Deputies today warned residents in the communities likely to be affected that they should get out, the AP reports.

As residents of Louisiana’s Cajun country wait for the Mississippi river water to arrive, many sandbagged their homes—one Stephensville resident waited in line three hours to get her bags filled, then came back later for more. But the Christian Science Monitor notes that sandbags may not do much good against water expected to rush into the floodway at 150,000 cubic feet per second and reach levels of 10 to 16 feet or more. Click to see pictures of the spillway's opening. (More Louisiana stories.)