As the Mississippi River continues to hold a steady crest of more than 4 feet above flood stage — or about 4 feet lower than last year’s crest — flooding in the Yazoo Backwater Area is worsening and could approach a 25-year high.

Steele Bayou Control Structure — the lone drainage point for the 4,093 square miles of levee-locked land — was holding out about 3 feet of floodwater off the Mississippi Delta this morning, but more rainwater was ponding inside the levees ruining crops already planted and idling thousands of additional acres.

Mississippi River

Today’s stage: 47.4 feet

24-hour change: None

Crest forecast: 47.4 feet today

Flood stage: 43 feet

The land side stage was 93 feet and Robert Simrall, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers chief of water control, said the stage could reach 94 feet later this week — which could put some homes and other structures in jeopardy.

It will be at least two more weeks before the Corps expects the river to subside enough to open the gates of Steele Bayou, Simrall said. They’ve been closed since May 10, impounding rainwater and flooding Delta farm and forest land since that date.

“We’re looking at it going to 93.7 and possibly approach 94 feet with the additional rain they’re forecasting this week,” Simrall said. “It’s going to keep creeping up.”  

It could have been worse in the backwater area had it received the 2 to 3 inches of rain predicted over the holiday weekend. Instead, less than a half-inch was recorded in most areas.

Since the levee system was completed in 1978, the highest recorded level inside the backwater area came just one year later in 1979 when the land side water stage crested at 96.5 feet. In 2008, Steel Bayou was closed March 13 and reopened May 8, at which point the water stage inside the structure was 92.3 feet and the Corps estimated a total of 344,000 acres of forest and farmland were flooded. It was the fifth-worst flood event in the backwater area since 1978.

The backwater area has not surpassed 94 feet since 1983 — the second-worst flooding event since the levees were completed — when land side stages reached 95.8 feet.

Corps maps show at 94 feet, approximately 404,000 acres of land are under water. Peter Nimrod, chief engineer for the Mississippi Levee Board, said some homes inside the backwater area could begin to take on water at 94 feet.

Pumps to remove the impounded water in the backwater area have been part of Corps levee system planning since 1941, but have not been approved or fully funded. The latest version of the plans were vetoed by the Environmental Protection Agency in late 2008.

Meanwhile, the Mississippi River at Vicksburg hovered at 47.4 feet, with no rise in the past 24 hours. The river has been cresting since Saturday, and forecasters anticipate it will hold steady through this week.

“Further upstream we’re seeing a pretty good fall, but there’s a lot of water coming out of the Arkansas River, which is going to keep the river holding steady from Arkansas City to New Orleans,” said Kai Roth, senior hydrologist with the Lower Mississippi River Forecast Center in Slidell, La. “It doesn’t look like we’re in any danger of any major rises in Vicksburg, and it should begin to start falling very slowly by Saturday.”

City officials estimate about 20 residents are displaced from 45 homes on Williams Street, Marys Alley and Pittman and Williams roads due to flooding, compared to the estimated 145 residents who were displaced from 101 homes last year.

Last year, the river topped flood stage at the city on March 29, crested at 50.9 feet on April 21 and remained above flood stage until May 10. It was the highest measured river stage recorded at the city in 35 years, dating back to 1973 when the river topped out at 51.6 feet.

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Contact Steve Sanoski at ssanoski@vicksburgpost.com