Flood Warning In Baton Rouge

The area of East Baton Rouge (where I currently work and temporarily live) has been under a Flood Warning since last Sunday when it was issued by the National Weather Service.

The heavy snows up north and the flooding that has affected Missouri and closer states such as Arkansas has finally "rolled downhill" so to speak and cities along the Mississippi are keeping a close eye on the ever-increasing water level. Since the warning was issued, the river's level has risen about 6 inches per day, which means it should hit flood level stage here in Baton Rouge by tomorrow.

Fortunately, that is not as bad as it sounds because the Baton Rouge area has a good strong levee in place (remember those concrete steps you saw along the river in my Baton Rouge I Flickr set? If not, go look at it now, I'll wait...Back? Ok.) and flood level stage is where the water would crest the river's banks if the levee system was not in place. By the way, the water you see below the grassy area of the bank in that photo is now up to the second step from the bottom. The rising waters will curtail industrial activity along the river, but should not be a physical danger to people in the area unless it rises much, much more.

But our forecast DOES call for heavy rains tomorrow through Sunday, so if you hear me gurgling, you'll know what happened.

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