(Updated) River projected to crest at 7.5 feet in March 20-24 range

The Atchafalaya River is on a steady rise, and officials expect the river to crest in Morgan City in just over two weeks at about 7.5 feet, slightly higher than the 2017 crest.

Projections show the river should crest in the March 20-24 range, St. Mary Levee District Executive Director Tim Matte said. That projected crest is just above last year’s crest of 7.2 feet.

As of 7 a.m. Monday, the river stage was at 5.43 feet, according to the National Weather Service. The forecast projects the Atchafalaya River to reach 6-foot flood stage by Wednesday.

However, the high water usually doesn’t begin to have an effect on the area until around the 6.5-foot stage when floodgate closures begin to take place, Matte said. The Atchafalaya is projected to reach 6.4 feet on Friday.

The National Weather Service says that at stages near 7.0 feet, buildings at the foot of Ann Street on the river side of the flood wall will flood as water flows over the Rio Oil Co. dock.

At the 7-foot stage, buildings on the river side of the Berwick floodwall will flood. Backwater flooding could affect areas around Lake Palourde and Stephensville.

With the current projected crest, levee district leaders don’t have any plans to close off Bayou Chene as has been done during unusually high water events, he said.

Levee district leaders have identified a couple of small measures they can take to try to avoid any issues due to the river rise. For example, district officials authorized the contractor doing the Siracusaville levee project to haul some dirt to an area near Lake Palourde that was slightly lower than the surrounding areas, he said.

“It’s probably more important for hurricane season than it is even for this because we wouldn’t expect the lake to get that high anyway,” he said.

The river stage had been hovering around the 3-foot mark for a while, but then started quickly rising to top 5 feet over the weekend, Matte said.

Flood waters from north Louisiana will eventually make their way to the Morgan City area.

“All of the flow out of the Red River comes down the Atchafalaya,” Matte said.

Forecasters expect the Red River in Shreveport to drop gradually, decreasing just a few inches by Friday.

Flooding from the Ohio River will also travel down the Mississippi River, and a portion of the Mississippi’s flow drains into the Atchafalaya.

“Anything that happens in the Ohio Valley ultimately has an impact on us,” Matte said.

The Ohio River was near a crest this weekend at Cairo, Illinois, but officials aren’t expecting the river to drop quickly there, Matte said. The National Weather Service forecast shows the Ohio River stage shouldn’t change much until Saturday when the river is projected to begin dropping.