Redwood levee shifted for backwater protection River expected to fall below flood stage Friday

Published 11:46 am Wednesday, June 15, 2011

A levee built around Redwood Elementary just before this year’s historic flood was partially dismantled Tuesday and moved to protect the school from backwater approaching from the Yazoo River.

The dirt work came as the National Weather Service forecast the Mississippi River at Vicksburg would drop on Friday to a spot below its 43-foot flood stage, the first time since May 1 when it continued on its historic rise.

The river at Vicksburg crested May 19 at 57.1 feet, 14.1 feet above flood stage. Today the river was at 44.2 feet, down eight-tenths of a foot in 24 hours.

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At Redwood, doors were closed May 6, three weeks before the end of the academic year, while the $65,000 levee was built amid fears backwater would overwhelm the school. The 445 students were moved to Sherman Avenue Elementary to finish out the school year.

In other flood-related developments:

• Col. Jeffrey Eckstein, commander of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Vicksburg District, and Col. George Shepard, deputy commander of the Mississippi Valley Division, will keynote a post-flood press conference Thursday at 11 a.m. aboard the MV William James.

• An alligator that had been reported dodging traffic as it crossed U.S. 61 North this morning was hit and killed by a vehicle and later picked up by the Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks. Gators, deer, snakes and wild boars have been spotted during the flood as they seek dry ground.

• DiamondJacks Casino was to reopen this afternoon after being closed by the flood since May 9. It is the last reopening of the city’s two casinos that were forced by the flood to close.

• Mississippi 465 — the main connector road between U.S. 61 North and Eagle Lake, where more than 800 homes were evacuated before the height of the flood — is dry on the surface, though inspections for subsurface seepage will continue into next week, the Mississippi Department of Transportation said.

• Individual assistance payments total more than $1.1 million to 836 Warren County applicants, the most filings among the 14 Mississippi counties declared disasters due to flooding. More than $3 million has been paid out to 392 applicants in Tunica County.