Floodwaters swallow camps near Krotz Springs
KROTZ SPRINGS, LA (WAFB) - The flood of 2011 has already swallowed hunting camps near Krotz Springs, along the Morganza Spillway near US 190.
The nearby Alon Refinery in Krotz Springs has shut down and will likely stay closed for several days. Work has finished on a levee designed to protect the refinery and 250 families who live nearby.
Much further south near Gibson, LA, in Terrebonne Parish, there are orange streams of Tiger Dams winding through town. On the ground, Gov. Bobby Jindal met with many of the people getting ready.
"How about y'all?" asked Jindal. "Y'all already got sandbags out, so y'all ready."
"I'm packing. We're loading things up," said Mary Varnado.
Back yards have been turned into work sites for the National Guard as soldiers put up more than 22,000 feet of Tiger Dams in preparation. Bayou Black Drive will be lined with orange that will hopefully hold Mother Nature back from 4,500 people and two schools.
"They expect approximately three to four feet here. The reality is they opened fewer gates than they thought," said Jindal.
The governor if referring to the Morganza Spillway gates. However, he warns, eventually when the water begins to back up and flood areas, that water will not go anywhere for a while.
"Once the water gets here, it'll be slower to get here. It'll go through Morgan City and other areas before these tributaries get saturated, and the water gets here. But it's going to be here for a while. This is not water that's going to come and leave very quickly," said Jindal.
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