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Governor Jindal Says Morganza Spillway Could Open This Weekend

By Eileen Fleming

http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/wwno/local-wwno-968091.mp3

New Orleans, La. – Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal says the Army Corps is waiting for the rising water to hit a pressure level that the levees can't handle.

"It now looks like they will reach that trigger. It is likely we'll get that decision from the Corps sometime between Saturday and Tuesday."

Engineers will then open the Morganza Spillway north of Baton Rouge, inundating smaller communities in the Atchafalaya River Basin. Jindal says 3 million acres are expected to be under water, with 18,000 acres of farmland. He says about 25-hundred people will see flooding in the region, with more than 22,000 others in areas where waterways are unable to dump into the Mississippi. Jindal says search and rescue teams and sandbag crews are gearing up.
For WWNO, I'm Eileen Fleming.

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