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Atchafalaya backwater flooding to linger for weeks
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PIERRE PART - Atchafalaya Basin residents already dealing with high water will see little change for several weeks. The backwater flooding is expected to last for another 45 days said Assumption Parish Homeland Security Director John Boudreaux.
"Unfortunately not knowing what the weather brings in the next 45 days, if we do have any significant rainfall, it would compound what's already here," said Boudreaux.
Many residents in Peirre Part have erected sand bag barriers in front of their homes along flooded streets to protect from the wake created by passing vehicles.
Backwater flooding is a problem most years in the basin according to Boudreaux as thirty-percent of the Mississippi River diverts into the Atchafalaya River. In a week, the state will announce funding for a flood control project near Morgan City said Boudreaux aimed at reducing the high water.
In 2011 a temporary dam was built on Bayou Chene that allowed the basin to better drain after the Morganza Spillway was opened. At the time the submergible barge used in the project was rented but now there's plans for the St. Mary Levee District to have its own.
The Bayou Chene flood project is expected to be ready by 2022 said Boudreaux.
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