The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is closely monitoring rising flows on the Mississippi River to determine if the Bonnet Carré Spillway in Norco, La., must be opened in the coming days to divert floodwaters from New Orleans. Heavy rain in the Arkansas, Upper Mississippi and Ohio River valleys have prompted advance preparations for what could be the ninth opening of the Bonnet Carré since it was constructed after the Great Flood of 1927.
If Brig. Gen. Michael Walsh, commander of the Corps’ Mississippi Valley Division in Vicksburg, Miss., gives the order, it will take only two cranes, a small labor crew and 36 hours to divert as much as 20% of the flow of the Mississippi away from the city. Once the structure is opened, water will flow across the 8,000-acre spillway and into Lake Pontchartrain, through which it can exit to the Gulf of Mexico, bypassing the city.