Mississippi flood overwhelms miles-long sandbag wall
Published 5:25 pm Monday, May 20, 2019
(AP) — A community at the southern end of the Mississippi Delta is losing its fight against a rising flood.
Officials estimate at least 50 homes in Eagle Lake, north of Vicksburg, were flooded by Monday afternoon after rising waters trapped inside a levee system overwhelmed elevated roadways and a sandbag wall.
The region is suffering from the worst flooding in decades as waters inside a levee system keep rising. The waters are trapped there when the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers closes a floodgate to protect the region against even worse flooding from the Mississippi River.
Residents of the Eagle Lake community in northern Warren County spent months building a miles-long sandbag wall trying to hold back water, but Fire Chief Earl Wallace says wind and waves overwhelmed it.