people in the small town of butte la rose know they could be next.bc's yunji de nies. >> reporter: 50 miles to the north of butte la rose, the floodgates have been opened at morganza spellway. the swollen mississippi is gushing through those gates with a greater force than the water going over niagara falls. this is supposed to be the surest way to spare cities like new orleans from another tragic flood. so butte la rose, which sits on a flood plain, knows that all that water is, instead, barreling down on them. likely to swallow up their homes, their businesses, their memories. how high do you think it will be right where we are? >> you and i's heads will definitely be under the water. >> reporter: this is the parish president. kind of like the mayor. and says he's staying. >> it really is heart wrenching that we are going to be sacrificed for others. it's a numbers game i guess. >> reporter: what we found most remarkable is that there's no panic in this little haven. like the river flowing through town, high water is in their blood. >> my grandfath

we've set up a web cam, giving you a round the clock look here in butte la rose.h a vantage point of the river. you'll be able to watch what it will look like when the flood waters start to rise. go to cnn.com/live to follow that as you wish. carol? >> that's unbelievable. it's the slowest moving natural disaster i think in history, ed. thanks so much. that cam is fascinating. we'll be eager to see what happens in the coming days. >>> up next, newt gingrich is carrying some baggage as he hits the white house trail. >>> and president obama says he will not release pictures of osama bin laden's body. coming up, we'll talk with a man who thinks they should be made public. in fact, his watchdog group is suing to make that happen. you're gonna want mr. fuzzyman even more now that we've discovered beneful playful life. with real, wholesome ingredients like beef, egg, and even oatmeal. extra protein for strong muscles. so you're ready for anything. you think you're getting spoiled. but it's so good for you, too. [ female announcer ] beneful playful life. healthful, flavo

it's over with, it's over with. >> reporter: it's over for butte la rose.o painful for people to hear. >> there's going to be a strong current. >> reporter: as pain turns to anger. colonel ed flemming offers a little comfort. >> in 22 years i have moved 14 times. we might have a box, you might have some important documents you might have some pictures, some keepsake things, those are things we're going to put in the car when that moving truck drives away and you're standing in your driveway with your family and a couple of suitcases and a box, that's when you find out what's important to you. >> and the sadness of the moment brings kelly trimm to tears. >> it's worse than we thought. we thought we might have water in our yard, instead it's going to come into our homes, it's going to take everything we have got. >> pierre watermeyer knows it's time to pack up and put butte la rose in his rear view mirror, but it's not his last dance. >> we'll dance again around here. >> reporter: and the sign will be the last thing he grabs on the way out of town. ed lavende

of you take a look at the dates, may 24th, that's about 2 feet above flood stage in butte la rose.arther to the south, 6 feet above. maya point 2 feet above flood stage, and back on bayou city on may 25th. here the numbers for you, but also the dates. may 15th. that's when we had, the heaviest cresting of course. farther south, on the 19th, expect 14.5 feet above flood stage. record flooding on may 27th. for natchez. and then new orleans, cresting as we speak, just an amazing job they've done on the half of the mississippi river. very quickly to wrap things up, you can expect rain in the eastern half of the u.s. very dry conditions from the u.s./canadian border. back to the u.s., it's a combination of rain, sleet, and in the highest elevations the sierra nevada, some snowfall. >>> today's the day that the federal debt reaching its actual legal limit. we're going to tell you what's been done to keep the country from defaulting. [ male announcer ] sitting, waiting, hoping. that's not how successful investing is done. at e-trade it's harnessing some of the most powerful yet easy to us

yunji de nies is there in butte la rose. >> reporter: farmland transformed from a dry field to a lake. houses and roads submerged. even wildlife swept up in the current of rising water. opening the spillway diverted massive amounts of water away from the more heavily pop lated cities of baton rouge and new orleans. >> they're going to do that to save millions of people there that devastation. i don't care if it's one person, 25,000, or 1 million, when somebody gets affected by something like this, to me, it tears my heart apart. >> reporter: people in the path of the water are urged to evacuate. many have left. some have moved valuables. others are waiting it out. >> i'm going watch it daily. if i see it coming up you know if i feel threatened, i'm going. >> reporter: others are fortifying their homes as best they can. >> i put some v-screen to block the water. and i came back to put some sand to hold it back. >> reporter: one man built his own levee. there is no doubt the water is coming. the uncertainty is how high it will get. and how bad it will be. when the river crests, the wors

the national weather service today lowered its flood crest forecast for butte la rose, louisiana, by 2 1/2 feet. here's nbc's anne thompson. >> reporter: the flood water from the mississippi is a silent, menacing stalker in louisiana, today, blocking this road to the wildlife management area in the morganza spillway. >> they have been drowning. >> reporter: the water is claiming deer and creating new places for alligators to swim. on the other side of the atchafalaya, some homes closest to the river are in it, while those on the other side of the levee are dry. with almost everyone evacuated, the louisiana national guard is ready for what comes next. >> our hope is that this is an exercise in preparedness and an exercise in coming to the aid of a community that frankly our hope is we never have to execute. >> reporter: vicksburg, mississippi, still needs help. this week, they set a new record, reaching 57.1 feet. some 14 feet above flood stage. here martha haggard can barely see the home she bought in 2004, now submerged in feted water. >> i don't think i'm going to go back, to tell

. >> reporter: in butte la rose, louisiana, dwayne farrell is gathering up what he wants and leaving the rest to the floodwaters about to inundate his home. >> there's nothing we can do about it. so get our stuff out and hope for the best. >> reporter: his property lies two football fields from the river where the water is already over its banks and up the trees. perhaps as early as saturday the army corps of engineers will open the spillway at morganza, an hour's drive away, to relieve pressure from the bulging mississippi river as it rolls south. >> we're doing everything that we can to take that excess water off of the river, and take the stress off of the levee systems. >> reporter: by opening the floodgates, some of the mississippi river water will temporarily be allowed to merge in the atchafayla and pour a torrent of water over the homes, buildings and businesses for 100 miles south to the gulf of mexico but bypassing big cities. they really had no other choice. keeping this spillway behind me closed would have raised the mississippi river to catastrophic heights. the army cor

. >> reporter: in butte la rose randy had one eye on the grill and the other on the water lapping at his dad's home. >> everybody is gone, it will be like a ghost down here in the next day or two. >> reporter: a retired tugboat operators expects the second floor of her home to stay dry but that's all. down the street, at a cabin named the last dance, pierre wrapped it in plastic, ringed it with sand and hoped for the best. >> i'm hoping. i'm really hoping that it's going to prevent it from being ruined. >> reporter: butte larose is one of the cajun communities in the atchafalaya river basin, where water from the morganza spillway is now running. diverted from the mississippi. the diversion is supposed to lessen river pressure at the baton rouge and new orleans flood walls. unfortunately, to make that happen, communities like butte larose may go under. four gates are now open at the spillway, just one releases nearly 75,000 gallons per second. 4.5 million gallons a minute. a rate that would fill an olympic pool in nine seconds. downstream, st. landry parish issued a mandatory evacuati

today evacuations were under way in the small community of butte la rose. people there left their home with sadness and optimism. >> this has been a steady rise. people were prepared. on the flip side of it it's still heartbreaking to watch your house go under the water slowly. every day you lose a little bit more of your life. >> reporter: it's expected to take three days for the water to flow 20 miles south into the swampland which drains into the gulf of mexico. >>> the san jose sharks may be in the finals but that hasn't stopped them. >>> and it's a moving day and opening day of what may be this hospital in california right here in buehrleing game. >>> the soxes they were on the board first but the canucks came back to win game one of the finals. fred inglis in vancouver. >> reporter: no baseball or basketball in canada, it's only the canucks. >> i just think it's our time. we got the experience last year getting to the semi full-times. i f inalless. f inals. i think it's time. >> game two wednesday night. >>> for the first time in the six year history

this is butte la rose, 40 miles from baton rouge, where prison inmates are helping sandbag operations. prisoners at angola state prison have already been evacuated, moved to tents out of harm's way. and now, a new threat from these floods. you know that louisiana and mississippi is home to gasoline term names terminals and though are now threatened and already, futures traders are pushing the price of gasoline up because of the flooding. diane? >> all right, jim, thank you. another source of real concern tonight is about the toxins in that water. what is in those rushing waters? steve osunsami is on the banks of the mississippi in memphis again tonight and he has been looking for answers. steve, good evening. tell us what you're finding and how you're testing. >> reporter: well, diane, you don't have to look too closely at the water to see that it is very, very dirty. this is water that's pushing up against a school and some of the same water that's flooding neighborhoods, behind me, you can see the trash, we've seen medical waste here. you can smell the water. there's sewage in it. y

that torrent of water could nearly swallow up tiny butte la rose by friday. this is what 15 feet of water would do to the town's fire house. this home, whose owners have already evacuated would almost be totally submerged. this laund ro mat, 13 feet tall would disappear under water. like so many, these people are packing up. they're newly weds. married less than a year. >> she's doing great. i'm worse, think. >> reporter: why is that? >> i -- i didn't marry her to make her life harder. >> reporter: they're heading for higher ground indefinitely. >> this is all i have ever wanted. and i'm here. and we'll be back. >> reporter: it's not clear when they'll return or what they'll find. the water could sit here so long that the wildlife, snakes, alligators, and a host of insects could be waiting inside. some residents are going to extremes, building hand-made levees around homes. ron angele is wrapping his home in heavy plastic. >> i put some v-screen to block the water. and then i came back to put some sand. >> reporter: they say the water is going to be taller th

new estimates about the crest of the mississippi river have postponed evacuations in butte la rose untiln the arrest today in the brutal beating of a san francisco giant's fan outside of dodger stadium. >>> a call center opens today in san francisco's castro district, the social cause behind the big opening. >>> also, an unusual sight on top of san francisco's twin peaks. the historic significance behind this bright symbol. . >> updating you now on our top story tonight, los angeles police released new details within the past 90 minute on the arrest of the man called the primer aggressor in the beating of san francisco giants' fan bryan stow. the man described as suspect no. 1 was arrested this morning at an apartment, this one here in east hollywood. l.a.'s chief of police said officers continued to search for two more suspects in this case. for that reason, police are not yet releasing the name of the man in custody. >> you just have to know right now, it's extremely important that we keep as much of the investigation confidential as possible in order not to alert people as to what our

they open these gates, they're sending that water, sadly, though, into some other communities, like butte laresident said as many as 1,000 homes in his community could ultimately be buried. obviously, the number one concern, these homes and the people who own them. but as the flood plays out, officials are also issuing warnings and taking steps to protect wildlife. we can show you some images right here. this from the louisiana department of wildlife and fisheries. deer being forced

we saw quite a few during our time in butte la rose last night. also black bear. people saying be careful about the wildlife. something to keep an eye on as the waters rise. we'll continue to do that. we'll see you back here tomorrow night. that's all for us. "in the arena" starts right now. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com >>> our top story tonight, the men who killed osama bin laden and their families may be in danger, because of what we know about his death. that, according to the nation's top two military men who say the details of the navy s.e.a.l. raid in pakistan, they say that information should never have been released. in a pentagon briefing told, joint chiefs chairmen mike mullen and defense secretary bob gates expressed strong concern for safety of the s.e.a.l.s. each of them gave a stark warning. >> from my perspective, it is time to stop talking. and we have talked far too much about this. we need to move on. it's a story that if we don't stop talking, it will never end. and it needs to. >> i'm very concerned about this. because we -- we won't t

. >>> new this morning, mandatory evacuations in butte la rose, louisiana. efforts to divert the swollen mississippi river could cause more than $2 billion in damages according to a new study, more than 21,000 homes are at risk at being -- of being flooded. >>> flights across europe are being canceled. they were concerned this would happen and, indeed, it is happening because of the volcanic ash from iceland drifting toward britain. scotland grounding all flights today and britain is cutting service to and from scott land because of the ash. the plume affecting president obama's week-long tour of europe. he was forced to take an earlier flight out of ireland because of it. the volcano started erupting on saturday. >>> israel's prime minister taking aim at president obama's plan for peace negotiations with palestinians. in a speech to the american israel public affairs committee, ben ja nin netanyahu says his country will not return to the boundaries it had before 1967. he called it indefensible. but he says he's eager to reach a peace deal. he will outline a

a mandatory evacuation wa lifted in butte la rose over the weekend.it goes back in effect tomorrow. yesterday, prison crews were put to work filling sandbags. farms and homes homes in low- lying areas are vulnerable to flooding after two floodlines were open. >>> people in month tan na are dealing -- montana are dealing with flooding. nearly 6 inches of rain has fallp in billing since thursday and snow melt runoff is also an issue. at least 100 homes in the billing area are vice late -- isolated because of flooding. >>> 70% of facebook 600 million members live outside of the u.s. the social network says its new direct is of policy -- director of policy reports this. >>> the average price for a case of beer has went up. 2% to 3% since the year before. part of the reason for the increase is because beermakers are paying a lot more for barley. flooding in canada and australia also lowered the quality of the crop and that caused a shortage. >>> 7:49. it's a must-win game tomorrow for the san jose sharks. if they lose, the sharks will be eliminated from th

. >> reporter: -- is packing it all up before the floodwaters wash over butte la rose. >> i had a big table in here. i had a few ton over here. th this was cabinets. 70% of the people are packed up and gone. >> it is going to be a ghosttown pretty soon. >> yeah. >> reporter: it has been home to an eclectic mix of caken encaju. >> what's it like to be around here knowing what's coming down the river? >> it's just a somber mood. everybody's just doing what they got to do. >> reporter: his bayou community will soon be flooded. >> i'm going to get three to four foot of water. >> reporter: but pierre is about to learn that the floodwaters will likely be worse than anything he imagined. pierre and hundreds of butte larose residents pack into the town's firehouse to hear flood level predictions from the army corp of engineers. >> i'm telling you, depth of water from right here, 15 feet. okay? someone can reach up 15 feet, that's probably up to the roof of this building. >> he said there's going to be 15 foot of water. it's over with. it's over with. >> reporter: it's over, for butte larose,

que el sistema de tormentas se dirija hacia el este, con direccion a los condados de "butte" y "glenn". --esta tarde latros de oakland realizo una protesta contra los recortes a los programas de educacion para adultos.--los maestros tambien piden un alto a los recortes a los servicios de consejeria en las escuelas secundarias.--con la protesta, los docentes inconformes pretenden presionar al distrito escolar unificado de oakland a que reconsidere los recortes. betty olson jones/pdte. asociacion de maestros de oakland la asociacion de maestros de oakland indicó que de los 25-mil personas que se beneficiaban con las clases de ingles para adultos, la cifra se redujo a menos de mil. ---los asuntos de faldas del ex gobernador de california, "arnold schwarzenegger", presuntamente son tema de una investigacion estatal.---segun algunas fuentes, la oficina del fiscal de california investiga si "schwarzenegger" uso a su equipo de guardaespaldas y a la patrulla de caminos de california (financiados con dinero de los contribuyentes) para que escoltaran mujeres en secreto hasta su habitacÓn en el hotel "hyatt" de s

. >> reporter: this might be one of the last glimpses of butte la rose louisiana.eft are reluctant to making their way out of the neighborhood. >> this is the house that we raised our children in and what we would reallyic to keep. >> reporter: but time and tide are closing in. >> we have a lot of memories gone or will be gone more than likely. >> reporter: gone under a wall of water. just like that. this home, already evacuated, would be almost totally submerged, and this laundromat 13-feet tall, would disappear under water. some are leaving with heads and hopes high. >> this is all i've ever wanted and i'm here and we'll be back. >> reporter: for spillway gates were opened on top of the nine opened over the weekend. >> approximately 10,000 cubic feet per second per gate. so that's 90,000 cubic feet per second. >> reporter: the manmade flood is dissipating the natural force of the mississippi but the danger remains. >> there is still a significant amount of water coming our way even when the lower projections. >> i just have to believe that god has his hands on us

this is butte la rose, 40 miles from baton rouge, where prison inmates are helping sandbag operationsson have already been evacuated, moved to tents out of harm's way. the threat of a catastrophic flood now moving south of the delta region, vicksburg, mississippi, is now the next big city which is threatened with floodwaters. they expect to reach the crest there on saturday. jim avila, abc news, tunica, mississippi. >>> the canadian mom who survived nearly two months in rugged terrain has been released from a hospital in idaho. doctors say rita chretien will continue her recovery closer to her home in british columbia. she somehow managed to survive by rationing trail mix and hard candy for weeks. crews are hoping better weather today will allow them to resume the search for her husband. >> that is amazing. >>> and the u.s. is still waiting to question osama bin laden's three widows now being held in pakistan. but another family member, bin laden's fourth oldest son, is speaking out about the deadly raid. omar bin laden called the killing of his father criminal. also said that his bur