FTAGOD
New member
UTTE LAROSE, La. – Over the next few days, water spewing through a Mississippi River floodgate will crawl through the swamps of Louisiana's Cajun country, chasing people and animals to higher ground while leaving much of the land under 10 to 20 feet of water.
Most people had cleared out of the town of Butte LaRose on Sunday, where water wasn't expected to arrive until at least later in the day. No evacuation orders had been issued there, but neighborhoods were teeming with activity last week as people cleared out their belongings.
"It's almost like a ghost town," said Chalmers Wheat, 54, who along with his twin brother, Chandler, was doing a final few things to protect his home before he went to stay with his father in Baton Rouge about 40 miles away.
Sandbags were still being distributed in the center of town, though there weren't any takers Sunday morning because most people had left. On Interstate 10 outside of town, an electronic sign suggested animals might be headed for higher ground, too: "Wildlife crossing possible. Use caution," it read.
The Morganza floodgate was opened Saturday for the first time in nearly four decades, shooting out like a waterfall, spraying 6 feet into the air. Fish jumped or were hurled through the white froth, and what was dry land soon turned into a raging channel.
Most people had cleared out of the town of Butte LaRose on Sunday, where water wasn't expected to arrive until at least later in the day. No evacuation orders had been issued there, but neighborhoods were teeming with activity last week as people cleared out their belongings.
"It's almost like a ghost town," said Chalmers Wheat, 54, who along with his twin brother, Chandler, was doing a final few things to protect his home before he went to stay with his father in Baton Rouge about 40 miles away.
Sandbags were still being distributed in the center of town, though there weren't any takers Sunday morning because most people had left. On Interstate 10 outside of town, an electronic sign suggested animals might be headed for higher ground, too: "Wildlife crossing possible. Use caution," it read.
The Morganza floodgate was opened Saturday for the first time in nearly four decades, shooting out like a waterfall, spraying 6 feet into the air. Fish jumped or were hurled through the white froth, and what was dry land soon turned into a raging channel.