Morganza flooding inevitable, similar to 1973

Published 5:33 pm Friday, May 6, 2011

BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — State officials say areas near the Morganza Spillway will get floods comparable to those of 1973, whether or not the spillway is opened to relieve pressure on levees.

Gov. Bobby Jindal said Friday that the spillway could be opened as soon as Thursday, but a decision has not been made.

Agriculture and Forestry Commissioner Mike Strain says that, since water would overtop the structure anyway, damage will be held as resulting from a natural occurrence and therefore covered by federal crop insurance.

Strain says opening the spillway would cause earlier flooding, but reduce the floodwaters’ height.

Jindal says Louisiana and the American Red Cross are increasing shelter space in the area.