Delta backwater flooding not draining out

MISSISSIPPI DELTA, Miss. (WLBT) – There are signs this week that the flooding in the south Mississippi Delta could last even longer.

In recent days, the levels of the backwater went up a few tenth’s of an inch.

Monitoring water backwater levels in the flooded delta, Warren County Emergency Management Agency Director John Elfer says it actually went up in recent days, bumped by rainfall in the area.

Steele Bayou closed again Sunday after the Mississippi River also rose slightly.

Roads, homes and a couple hundred thousand acres of farmland are still underwater.

John Elfer said, “Those structures that may have been OK with just a few weeks of water, now they’ve had a few months of water. We’ll probably have to go back and revisit some of the damage assessments we’ve done because some of those structures just simply aren’t going to anything left as a foundation for it.”

Fire services are now unavailable at Eagle Lake. First responders can still access the area and sheriff’s deputies are still providing around the clock patrols.

Hundreds of residents still forced from their homes.

“We know people want to go get back in there and start fixing and repairing damages, but that’s a process and we don’t want anybody running in there without a good idea of what they’re going to be expecting,” said Elfer.

Flood victims are now also keeping a close eye on a tropical system coming to the gulf later this week.

Any rain amounts adds to the devastation, already prolonged and threatening to stretch into next month.