Low-lying farmland along the Mississippi River, especially in Wilkinson County, could be affected as the river rises with floodwater from the Midwest.
Areas such as Lake Mary in Wilkinson County are still under water from floods earlier this year and could get even more water, said Wayland Hill, civil engineering technician in the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers hydraulics division.
The river is expected to crest today in Vicksburg and Friday in Natchez, and the National Weather Service expects only the lowest points to flood. The river will likely crest several feet below its flood stage and more than 10 feet below its highest levels during the April floods.
“We are cautiously watching this,” said Thomas Tolliver, director of Wilkinson County Emergency Management. “There is still water (in Lake Mary and Fort Adams areas), and we are expecting extra water to come.”
Tolliver said he expects the water to move in this week and expects it to drain by August. He said some residents have returned, though water remains from the largest flood to hit the county since 1973.
Flooding such as that expected this week happens about every two years, he said.
About 270,000 acres of Mississippi farmland flooded earlier this year, and many farmers were cautioned not to replant because the river was likely to rise again.
John Coccaro, Mississippi State University Extension Service director for Warren County, said most of the county’s farmers heeded the warnings, although he knew of at least one farmer who planted soybeans at the beginning of the month and expects to get water in some of his land’s lowest points.
Marty Pope, senior service hydrologist for the weather service, said most places should be OK. Pope said the reason the high water in the Midwest does not have the same impact farther south is the size of the Mississippi’s channel. The lower Mississippi can handle a much larger volume than it can farther north.
The Ohio River’s water level decreased greatly during the past two weeks, which is good for areas along the Mississippi.
“We’re definitely keeping an eye on things,” said Anna Booth, Vicksburg’s emergency management director. “Hopefully, nothing will change. We’re going to stay alert to it.”
Because of the river’s high waters, the Corps closed the Steele Bayou flood control gates June 13.
The main purpose is to keep the Mississippi from flooding the Delta region, said Robert Simrall, Corps Vicksburg District chief of water control.
Simrall said it was also closed during the April floods. Simrall said it typically is closed once or twice a year, when the water in the Mississippi River rises to 75 feet and is higher than the water on the Yazoo River side of the levee that separates the two rivers.
MEMA said Monday that more than $1.39 million in federal money has been approved for Mississippi residents with flood damage. Also, more than $1 million was loaned to flood victims through the U.S. Small Business Association.
The deadline for residents of Bolivar, Warren, Washington and Wilkinson counties to file for Federal Emergency Management Agency assistance is July 7.
RIVER NUMBERS
• $1,390,595 in FEMA funds approved for Individuals and Household’s program from April flooding along the Mississippi River.
• $1,176,706 in FEMA funds approved for housing assistance.
• $213,888 in FEMA funds approved for other needs assistance.
• $1,169,400 approved in U.S. Small Business Association loans.
• 508 residents from the four-county region registered for assistance.
• 855,000 acres were flooded in April, including 270,000 acres of farmland.
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