and here is the morganza spillway.ere is the mississippi river where we're seeing all that flooding and really the high level. with the water coming over towards the west and down towards the south, of course, that is going to cause the flooding. we're talking about thousands of structures in damage and thousands of people being evacuated. to give you an idea of the levels that we're expecting the water to actually climb down towards parts of louisiana, i want to show you this. this is coming in, and again, this is an estimate, not an exact science. but you can see in the atchafalaya basin, we're talking 10 to 15 feet, 15 to 20. anywhere in the gold, that's the mississippi river, anywhere between 20 and 30 feet in some locations. down towards the south, a little lesdz amount of water, zero to 5 feet, but none the less, this is going to certainly really cause havoc on homeowners down there. as i zoom out for you, i also want to give you an idea of the size of it. this area equates to about half the size of the state of

the one and only time the morganza spillway had to be opened. there's no guarantee it will even work. the mississippi river is already dangerously high in new orleans. the army corps of engineers is hoping that by diverting water through two spillways will lower the river level and spare the city. so far, the corps says opening the morganza spillway appears to be having the desired effect. the biggest test is still days away, the highest water, hundreds of miles up river. this is greenville, mississippi, that you're looking at right now. a live report from there, and it is being inundated, straight ahead on cnn. let's get right to ed lavandera who was there when the morganza spillway was opened just about three hours ago. ed, tell us about it. ed lavandera is joining us on the phone. ed, can you hear us? >> reporter: just a while ago, this is the area that was all dry several hours ago, but since they opened up the first floodgates of the morganza spillway, this is what has been drowned out. as we've mentioned, this will be a long, slow path to t

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last time morganza spillway opened was 1973.of the rising water. the head of one of the world's key financial organizations is being investigated tonight about a sexual assault. dominique strauss-kahn is the leader of the international monetary fund. he was pulled off a flight to talk about an incident at a hotel in times square. investigators say he was naked and tried to force himself on a maid in his room. he has declined to answer questions and has not made a statement. he's often mentioned as a candidate for president in his native france. two florida imam as foreand son have been arrested on charges of providing support the pakistan taliban and another son has also been arrested in los angeles. a federal indictment accuses the three men along with three others inside pakistan of supporting a conspiracy to kill, injure and kidnap people abroad. we're told the arrests not linked to the recent killing of osama bin laden. >>> republicans mike huckabee says he's not going to run for president this time around. the former arkans

the morganza spillway is now open.lk with the tulane university professor and retired general russel honore about the decision to flood thousands of homes and businesses to save the state's two largest cities. sary! are we still on for tonight? yeah, of course. of course. [ laughs ] you remembered to make a reservation, right? yeah, i remembered that. the number one thing a man should remember. i'm gonna be there soon. i'm gonna come pick you up. and i'll, uh...i'll -- i'll -- i'll call you -- i'll call you when i'm on the way. i'm -- i'm on the way. ok? ok! [ male announcer ] only at&t's network lets your iphone talk and surf at the same time. your finances can't manage themselves. but that doesn't mean they won't try. bring all your finances together with the help of the one person who can. a certified financial planner professional. cfp. let's make a plan. unlike fish oil, megared softgels are small and easy to swallow with no fishy smell or aftertaste. try megared today. ♪ for the radio station don't sign off with

the first bay of morganza spillway is open. lowly diverting dangerous flood waters from the mississippi river away from baton rouge and new orleans. it comes at a great cost to others as water gushes through the spillway, homes and farms across the atchafalaya river basin will be flooded. >>> and jury selection in a sensational florida murder trial will continue today. lawyers are working a full day trying to seek jurors to hear the case of casey anthony. she's accused of killing her 2-year-old daughter nearly three years ago. she was missing for two months before her skeletal remains were found near the home. >> and etta james is in the hospital this evening with a blood infection. she's best known for "at last." her son tells cnn his mom was admitted to a hospital in southern california and she's doing a little better but she's not out of the woods just yet. >>> an taems is being conducted to find out what killed new york rangers player derek boogaard. the hockey player's body was discovered yesterday in his minneapolis apartm

the morganza spillway was an important component for us. it's going to relieve a tremendous amount of pressure in the city of new orleans. based on what the corps has told us, we believe the city of new orleans is going to be safe. this is a very tragic situation, really for everybody in america and of course the people who live along the atchafalaya basin and in morgan city, and our hearts go out to them, but we have every reason to believe based upon the information the corpses has given us and the inspections that have been done, that new orleans is going to be safe. >> reporter: so many new orleans when you say it was a natural disaster, they stop you and say it was man made. there's a lot of anger toward the corps. further, is it tough to square the fact that others will suffer to spare new orleans, really? >> well, those are two separate questions. let me answer. first, the levees in question are not the ones that were breached by katrina. the levees in question now are the ones that have been buttressed for 50, 60, 70 years on the mi

he joins us from the morganza spillway in louisiana. roughly an hour from now, ed, they'll be opening the spillway. how quickly before people would see that run-off of water? >> reporter: well, they've developed a map that will show that. it will take some time. we're about 40 miles or so north of interstate 10. they say it will take about a day to get there and possibly as much as three days to get down to morgan city, louisiana, which is right on the gulf of mexico, about 100 miles away. if you look down here, this is the morganza spillway structure. if you look about halfway down, there are a couple of cranes up there. that's where the first gate will be opened today. they will open up one today in about an hour or so. over the course of the next couple days, they will continue to open up more as needed. that's obviously a very fluid situation. they'll have to make those determinations as they see the amount of pressure that's taken off the mississippi river over the coming days. that's one of the things they'll continue to be monito

eastern time, the army corps of engineers opened the morganza spillway. waters rising to interstate 10 which cuts through the spillway. now by 3:00 p.m. today, 48 hours later, the communities of krots springs and bute her rose expect to be hit by the water. parts of crotz were evacuated yesterday. in butte larose, there are 800 homes in the flood path. flooding will spread through tuesday 72 hours after the flood gates opened. wednesday the waters will reach morgue city, louisiana, where residents have been creating temporary barriers to protect their homes. the water expanding west by thursday afternoon. then for the next few days after that, the swollen mississippi continues its slow crawl spreading to the east hitting huma, louisiana. >> we'll continue to follow that story. >>> president obama is going to be in memphis this morning to deliver the commencement speech at a high school. the school is booker t. washington high. it won the president's race to the top competition. president obama will meet with first responders and families affected along the

we also opened up the bonnet carre spillway, there's discussions about opening up morganza.ll get to that in just a moment. the gauges are still at historic highs. i was at cairo, illinois, two days ago. while folks are coming back to that city even after it was evacuated. the gauge levels are still as high as they've ever been. they've dropped three feet, but still as high as they've ever been. we need to remain vigilant. we still have our engineers walking the levees looking for sand boils and other things in regard to weaknesses. the crest is still up in arkansas, hats on the yet come down here. this is certainly going to be a marathon and not a sprint as we go through this tremendous amount, huge amount of water as it comes down. it's again putting tremendous pressure on the entire system as we try and work this amount of water through the mississippi river tributaries project. the next question is when do we open the morganza floodway. i just took a brief from the district commander. he recommends that we continue with the opening of morganza spillway, and i directed hi

new video into cnn of the morganza spillway north of baton rouge.ore gates were opened up doubling the amount of water pouring into the basin. it is too late for residents in stat francisville across the mississippi river from the spillway. even though many homes are on stilts, the water was much higher than anyone had seen before. a man in charge of hundreds of billions of the world's money is sitting in a new york city jail cell on attempted rape charges. domenick strauss-kahn is the head of the international monetary fund and organization that oversees the world economy. his attorneys say he'll plead not guilty when arraigned this evening. >>> now to the middle east where israeli troops fired tier gas at violent protesters. similar clashes erupted on all of the borders of israel today. 12 were killed, many more hurt. this is a day set aside where palestinians protest the creation of israel. >>> evangelist billy graham is now home in north carolina after five days in the hospital. the 92-year-old evangelist is recovering from pneumonia. doctors sa

hello, chris. >> brian, we're taking a look at the effects of opening the morganza spillway. first i want to show you a look at where we have new orleans and look upstreamthat's where the morganza spillway is located. if they open that this weekend, this is what is expected to happen. the areas shaded in green that's where we could see flood depths of up to 10 feet. in yellow, 10 to 20 feet. for morgan city, this is what we're looking at. the flood stage, keep in mind is 4 feet. with that spillway open, 12 to 13 feet of water could be heading that way. so, brian, it does look like new orleans may end up being spared. but other locations like morgan city may not be so lucky. >> all right, chris, we're going to count on you to be part of our team keeping an eye on the water in the days ahead. thanks. >>> now we turn overseas. the latest news resulting from the death of osama bin ladin. we seem to be learning more about him in the 11 days since his death at the hands of u.s. navy s.e.a.l.s than we've been able to learn in the past ten years, thanks to all that stuff the s.e.a.l.

we opened up the morganza spillway for the first time yesterday since 1973.:00, another bay was opened up at around 6:30. the reason they did that is they're trying to divert water away from the mississippi river and move it away from the big citi cities. by opening the spillway it is moving water into the basin. over 25,000 people live into that part of southern louisiana. now as long as that water continues to move south toward the gulf of mexico, it does look like it will have a big impact for parishes on the southern edge of louisiana. it looks like a lot of areas are going to be dealing with flooding anywhere from five, maybe even upwards of over 20 feet. a lot of families are voluntarily evacuating. there's no mandatory evacuation just yet but that could change depending on the flow of water into that part of louisiana. >> how bad off is houma going to be where you are? >> well, we're just to the north of houma. we're in a town called gibson. it's only a town of about 4,500 people. here they are preparing like it is going to get bad. they're going to be

this is the morganza spillway behind me. 125 gates. you might be able to see there way in the distance a gray structure over the top of the bridge, that is what will pull up one of the gates and what will hapb when that happens, the water will push through the gate and you can see over here the dry land that is out on this way, 100 miles and curve around like this through the river basin and 100 miles down towards morgan city and that's where we caught up with the mayor of morgan city. tim matt who has spent the last few weeks getting his city ready for the incoming flood waters. >> well, it is the heart of the city and it's primarily protected, of course, by that wall right there and it would take a failure of that wall, i think, before this would really be at risk. what we're really concerned about, though, that high river stage raising the water level back where the lake is and then if that got topped because that level of protection is not nearly as high as this. that water would flow throughout the city and not be held within a pa

evacuation orders are in place in louisiana as the mississippi river's floodwaters surge through a morganza spillway. 2,000 people west of baton rouge are being told to pack it up and get out. right now four flood gates on the more began z-- morganza

two more gates were opened at the morganza spillway.ed to evacuate and it's too late for some residents in st. francisville across the river where mississippi has invaded the town. even though many homes are on stilts, no one had ever seen the water get this high. arraignment postponed until monday for the top politician. dominique strauss-kahn is accused of sexually assaulting a maid at a luxury hotel. he'll plead not guilty according to his attorneys. here's what they had to say moments ago outside the courthouse. >> we have a very short thing to say. our client willingly consented to a scientific and forensic examination tonight. >> can't hear what you're saying, sir. >> our client consented to an examination tonight at the request of the government. that being done. in light of the hour we agreed to postpone the arraignment until tomorrow morning and we expect to be here in court tomorrow morning. >> how is your client doing? >> he's tired but he's fine. >> thank you very much. >> again, mr. strauss-kahn's appearance tomorrow mornin

the morganza spillway. the state making a decision to open the spillway and release water into some communities, burying homes in those communities to protect communities like baton rouge, new orleans, one of the extraordinary measures this state is taking. the stakes are enormous. governor jindal saying $300 million alone in crop damage, tens of millions in other property damage. there are a dozen oil refineries in flood zone. there are chemical factories, homes and businesses as well. listen to governor jindal here explaining the tough decision to open the spillway he says will protect larger communities without a doubt but for the families right in the devastated zone, listen to how many homes could be, could be just buried. >> look, worst case scenario and i don't think the numbers will be this bad. they said 3 million acres under water. 20 to 30,000 people will be flooded. approximately between 11 or 15,000 homes. since then the estimate has been revised. they didn't have to open as much of the spillwa

i do want to go to our ed lavandera who has been standing by at that morganza spillway. you were giving us the heads up that this could come in the next few hours. is that still what you're hearing? >> we still anticipate that that will happen and really what they're monitoring right now, t.j., is the water pressure throughout the mississippi river as it heads into baton rouge and new orleans and there's a number you need to keep in mind here. 1.5 million cubic feet of water per second. that amount of pressure on the levee system between baton rouge and new orleans will trigger the opening of this morganza spillway gate. i don't know if you can see, way off in the distance, halfway down the bridge, you see two giant cranes on top of the spillway here. this spillway is almost 5,000 feet long and has 125 flood gates and those cranes have already been put into position here in the coming hours. they will drop down and start to lift up one of those gates and the process of opening up these flood gates will be very slow. all of this water that you see here wasn't here about a

. >> reporter: with more than 10% of the gates in the morganza spillway now open, no one is quite sure when the water will arrive, frustrating some residents trying to plan their escape. >> it goes to show you they don't know. they don't know what is going to happen. >> reporter: the army corps of engineers says its plan is working as expected with an unexpected assist from the drought. >> as the water comes out of the morganza spillway, it's being sucked up and absorbed so fast from the earth that it's not flowing as fast as it should, which is a good thing. >> reporter: in stevensville, protecting the elementary school is a community effort, but the principal is taking no chances. today, he ended the school year two weeks early. >> all the equipment has been removed and the furniture has been removed. we're trying to save as much of the building as we can. >> this congressman grew up here and represents six of the eight threatened parishes. >> we seem to keep taking it on the chin, but we get up and go about our lives afterwards. >> reporter: even when their homes are sacrificed to p

. >>> federal authorities opened three more flood gates in louisiana's morganza spillway, they're trying to divert water from the mississippi river to save new orleans and baton rouge from flooding. the river hascrested in new orleans seven feet before not gate. >> four glad threats are now open at the morganza spillway, in the mississippi river is rushing through, rolling across the basin. formlands transformed from a dry field to a lake. houses and road being submerged. animals are being forced to deal with the rising water. opening the spillway diverted the water from the cities of baton rouge and new orleans. >> we keep coming back, and nothing is going to push us out of louisiana. >> people in the path of the flood waters are urged to evacuate. some in this community, just 50 miles from the spillway, are racing to get their valuables to higher ground. >> i'm going to watch it daily. if i see it coming up, you know, if i feel threatened by it, i'm going. >> reporter: ronald per perry has lived in morgan city. >> a nice retirement life, and seems like everything is turning upside-down

of the morganza, and spillwaysllway acts like a pressure valve on the swollen mississippi river to stop the downpour from baton rouge and new orleans, and flooding more areas. more are to be opening today. this is home of the atchafalaya basin. and looking at this place is another place where lives are loaded on to trucks literally. no one knows how high it will be and how to gwhen they leave. but one man is fortunate that he has time to get out. >> we are fortunate to have what we have and get out. material things we can replace and our family and what we believe in daily, you cannot put up a price. >> did you put up that sign? >> yes. i'm proud of that and what it says we will be back. >> what about the city that morganza was built to protect? well, last week baton rouge crest was not expected to crest until may 22nd next weekend, and reach a 12.5 crest above flood stage, and new orleans 2.5 feet above flood stage, but the forecast has changed and now baton rouge will see 10 feet above flood stage and new orleans

we want to begin with more on the floogsd in the south and the opening of the morganza spillway. that's where chief environmental affairs correspondent ann thompson is for us this morning. ann, good morning. >> reporter: good morning, lester. the flood you see behind me could save new orleans. in a breathtaking demonstration of the power of the mississippi river, one of the 120 125 bays of the morganza spillway opened and set in motion a series of events that could take the homes of some 25,000 louisianans. the mississippi river roared through just one gate in what the army corps of engineers called a flow opening. the flow headed for the sparsely populated river basin area instead of louisiana's two biggest cities, baton rouge and new orleans. the release is part of a decades old plan to control flooding on america's biggest river, but it didn't make the decision any easier for colonel ed fleming. >> none of these decisions that we make are easy. i don't take them lightly, and we remember that public safety is our number one priority. >> reporter: the water could impact as many

this afternoon they opened the first of the floodgates of the morganza spillway, up stream from baton rouge and new orlea orleans. potentially flooding thousands of square miles of countryside. dean reynolds is in organza with the very latest. >> reporter: good evening, russ. officials told us this afternoon everyone in the area the water will take 24 hours to reach has already departed and as you can see behind me, with good reason. only one of the 125 gates on this 4,000-foot-long spillway was opened, a cautious first step to give everyone and everything a chance to flee. >> we'll open one bay today. we'll open one or two tomorrow. and then we'll open gates based upon the river conditions as they exist. >> reporter: the mississippi is cresting now near helena, arkansas, over 250 miles north of the morganza spillway. officials in louisiana know they are in for a period of acute anxiety as they try to manipulate the third longest river in the world. >> this is certainly going to be a marathon, and not a sprint as woe go through this tremendous amount, huge amount of water as it comes

by tonight, 11 separate flood gates on the big morganza spillway will be open and flowing. it spreads out from there downstream in louisiana where 25,000 people live in its potential path. over 3 million acres of land, 13,000 structures. in all, the homeowners must now evacuate and wait. the government saved some big cities from catastrophe while launching thousands of personal tragedies across the state. we have two reports on this tonight beginning with anne thompson in melville, louisiana anne, good evening. >> reporter: good evening, brian. people here in melville are bracing for this manmade flood. the result of a choice to sacrifice this part of louisiana to spare its biggest cities. that choice in turn has people in these rural communities facing some very difficult options. here in st. landry parish, the atchafalaya river swamped the neighborhood even before the morganza spillway opened. now the mississippi river gushes through to save new orleans and baton rouge from flooding. while in the tiny town of port springs 15 miles away, residents have few easy choices. >>

corps of engineers is diverting even more water from the swollen mississippi river into the morganza spillway. the flooding will cover a massive area in the next ten days and could reach 20 feet in some places. the government is flooding communities in the spillway to spare cities like baton rouge and new orleans. but that doesn't make it easier for jane solar who's live in this home for more than 60 years. >> they're not going to let the cities drown, they're going to drown us poor people. >> here in butte larose, they the national guard set up a roadblock to restrict access to the community. major flooding has not yet reached this area. but officials don't want people who were evacuated to return during the emergency. floods have ravished towns up and down the mississippi for two weeks. during his trip to memphis, tennessee, president obama met with some of the flood victims in the area. the morganza spillway goes south into the heart of cajun country. >> do what you do. pray the lord it don't come up higher than three or four feet. i'm protected up to about four feet. >> reporter: people p

army corps of engineers is expected to open the floodgates on the morganza spillway. the plan is to slowly divert floodwaters away from baton rouge and new orleans. the spillway has not been opened in nearly 40 years. the move will flood other areas in south central louisiana. and this map right here you're about to see it, it says it all. areas in yellow could get up to 20 feet of water and green up to 15 feet. we'll have live coverage of a briefing by the u.s. army corps of engineers at 2:00 eastern time. >>> in areas like morgan city, louisiana, could get disastrous flooding. morgan city is protected by flood walls. but those walls could fail. the city's mayor talked about his concerns with her ed lavandera. >> reporter: are you worried about it flooding? this is the heart of the city. >> it is. and it's primarily protected by that wall right there. it would take a failure of that wall, i think, before this would really be at risk. what we're really concerned about is that high river stage raising the water level back where the lake is and then if that got topped,

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 evacuation order. everyone out by this afternoon. >> we're anticipating seeing some water in this area at about 9:00 p.m. this evening. we're going to see water start coming through the woods. >> reporter: in butte larose, randy says they can issue all the evacuation orders they want. he spent months remodeling this home and he has no intention of leaving it. >> i'm not leaving. >> you're not going to leave? >> no. >> reporter: but he's keeping a boat handy just in case. the water will be rising for weeks, and to see by how much, in just a

army engineers opened more floodgates at the morganza spillway. it will divert millions of gallons of water to the atchafalaya basin. this is an effort to spare new orleans and baton rouge. thousands of acres will likely be flooded under some 20 feet of water. 25,000 people could be affected. randall pinkston has our report. >> reporter: the bayham store is butte larose is one of more than 10,000 homes and businesses in cajun country sitting inside the morganza spillway. >> how deep are they predicting it will be? >> about 12 feet, 12 to 14 foot right here. >> reporter: the army corps of engineers opened the floodgates of the mississippi on saturday. thousands of acres inside the spillway are already flooded. and water will soon start showing up here, outside the store his father owns. how are you dealing with it? i mean emotionally? >> just trying -- really, ain't really dealing with it. just trying to get as much out as we can. >> reporter: with the mandatory evacuation order looming, it's neighbor helping neighbor, doing what they can to protec

several gates of the morganza spillway opened for the first time in almost 40 years over the weekendg to spare baton rouge and new orleans from massive flooding. other towns along the river it's go time. >> you could very likely see water ten, fifteen, some people say twenty feet i don't know that. but it's going to be heavy unfortunately. >> reporter: sandbagging and packing. residents praying their homes won't be paying mother nature's price. >> we just live day-to-day. try to survive. and i don't know what we would do if the water would come and take it. i guess we'll cross that bridge when we get to it, you know? >> reporter: residents here evacuating and some are bracing for the worst. the national weather service says flood waters here and in mississippi state are expected to peak at record levels by this weekend. live in melville, louisiana, sandra endo, back to you at the desk. >>> time now 5:47. today pakistan will give back that broken tail of a u.s. helicopter damaged during the raid that killed osama bin laden. now after the helicopter crashed, u.s. navy seals tried to de

and here is the morganza spillway. all right? right there. here's that -- this is the area also that we have, this area in red. that's the area that will be under several feet of water if the spillway is opened. these hundreds of thousands of acres might still flood but not nearly as much if the spillway stays closed. all right, enough with the maps. time now to meet the people who stand to lose their homes and livelihoods to the ravages of nature and the decisions of well meaning humans. here's cnn ed lavendera. >> reporter: tucked away in the shade of louisiana cypress trees and back water creeks, you'll have a hard time fighti ining b la rose. >> i put that sign up about two months ago and i've always wanted to name the camp last dance. >> reporter: the music has stopped and pierre -- >> don't know why i'm locking it. >> 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

the second time in 38 years, engineers have begun opening some of the 125 gates of the morganza louisiana spillway, allowing the overflowing mississippi river to flood thousands of acres of harm lands, homes and structures, and displacing as maybe -- many as 2500 people. >> they told us to move as the we were moving, period. >> not coming back. >> not coming back. not to leave a toothpick behind. >> knowing that all of this that you worked for is going to be gone, that's all you can think about report roirt was an agonizing decision for the army corps of engineer. sacrifice these homes and farms to save cities down teem. the mississippi could overwhelm

happening in louisiana and the part that is being affected because of the floodgates of the morganza spillway are opened and also speaking of the people directly affected by this and who might be, and i will speak to a woman who actually lost her home the last time this particular spillway was being open, and when she heard that the morganza was being opened, she got sick, literally sick at work over this story. [ male announcer ] a pinnacle fishing rod, a tackle box, and ozark trail tent, and an air horn. come on, boys! let's go! let's get up! this is a fishing trip, not a sleeping trip. all right. that's what you ask for, you're gonna get this, huh? [ air horn blares ] aah! yeah, you're up now. [ male announcer ] only walmart has low prices every day on everything you need. backed by our ad match guarantee. save money. live better. walmart. [ woman speaking chinese ] thank you. do you have an english menu? no english. [ speaking chinese ] [ gasps, speaks chinese ] do you guys like dumplings? i love dumplings. working with a partner you can trust is always a good decision. massmutual -- let

they opened up the spillway, the mor morganza spillway and the old river spillway, the water levels wasit would be. that's fine. having said that, it's a dangerous situation. our hearts go out to those in the spillway. we'll be there to help as we have been. >> so much for your state and each community is connected to one another when it comes to things like the economy. what's your greatest concern right now for the areas surrounding new orleans and for the state of louisiana. >> again, it's important for the nation to realize that the nation's economic security and the national security depends on louisiana actually doing its worst. the river, if it closed down, would cost $400 million a day and would really just kind of put a strangle hold on exports and imports coming in on the country. that's one of the major concerns. the other, just, of course, people's life and property and their way of life, we're interconnected not only in louisiana but in america. like we do all the time when folks are hurting, we're going to get in there and help them as fast as we can. >> have folks come to

it's day two of the morganza spillway opening. the u.s. army corps of engineers opened two additional flood gates sunday morning and could open even more. the first mandatory evacuation order has been issued for nearly 2,000 residents in one louisiana parrish. when you have an evacuation order from a local elected official or a local law enforcement official, you need to understand what's important to you. pack up a few important things and get your family and heed their advice. >> other residents have left voluntarily, using levees and sandbags as protection for their home. >> we took a chance and purchased the property because we love the river. the river has always been a part of our lives. if the river destroyed properties, then that's what happens to be. >> the usda says farmers who are covered for crop damage will be eligible for crop insurance. and as the spillway is expected to be open for weeks, evacuees will have to wait at least that long to return home. i'm barbara hall, reporting from atlanta. >> let's go to our meteorologist

army corps of engineers says that 25,000 homes could be lost or damaged by spillage from the morganza spillwayporting that the spillway is gradually opened to lower the river downstream and lessen the flooding in new orleans and baton rouge. if the spillway had stayed closed, most folks are now getting out of town, but a few sees a different solution. if the water is high, they say to get the house higher. contractors can jack up a house and put it on stilts for roughly the price of building a house from scratch. from the other side of the spillway, the damage is done, and it is still being done and won't be over for weeks and maybe longer. the river has never been higher in the mississippi towns of natchez and vicksburg, and it is still on the rise. a farnler near vi farmer near v is like a slow death. martin, i understand that it is hard to get around there. >> it is, randi, indeed. we are standing in what is known as the kings community area and north of vicksburg and an area we have been at before, but the water is higher here than before, and it continues to rise here in vicksburg with th

in louisiana, water continues to be diverted into the morganza spillway where some 25,000 people live>> prepare, because the lack of preparation is what can cause destruction. >> reporter: many packed up and left. others trying to protect their property. as this family found out, it may not be enough. karen brown, cbs news, yazoo, mississippi. >>> just ahead on the morning news, the man who may or may not be the head of al qaeda. >>> plus how much would you pay for the unabomber's possessions? they are up for auction. this is the "cbs morning news." ning news." with being fed on. we demand k9 advantix ii. it not only kills fleas and ticks, it repels most ticks before they can attach and snack on us. frontline plus kills but doesn't repel. any tick that isn't repelled or killed may attach and make a meal of us. so let's put our paws down in protest. no fetching, no friendship till we all get k9 advantix ii. join us at poochprotest.com. [ male announcer ] ask your veterinarian about k9 advantix ii. how long she waited, to tell arnold about the baby.. and the secret home, the governor re

water from the mississippi river is gushing from nine spill gates from the morganza spillway. the water will cut a 20-mile path through louisiana's cajun country. >> we're fortunate that were have what we have, we haven't an opportunity to get out. material things we can replace. our family and what we believe in daily, just can't put prices on that. >> did you put up the sign? >> yeah, i put it up, i'm proud of that sign. it's just what we say, we will be back. >> almost a week after the mississippi crested in memphis, the river remains 11 feet above flood stage. president obama is in memphis today to get a look at the flood damage. and to comfort families who have lost their homes. >>> zero and liftoff for the final launch of "endeavour" expanding our knowledge, expanding our lives in space. >> shuttle "endeavour" roared into space just two hours ago. his wife congresswoman gabrielle giffords watched liftoff at kennedy space center. she's recovering from a gunshot wound to the head. >>> head of the national monetary fund will be arraigned inside this courtroom shortly. a hot

right now, four floodgates on the morganza spillway are open.ore openings are planned in the days ahead. >>> the head of the international monetary fund is about to be formally charged in new york with attempted rape. police say 62-year-old dominique strauss-khan tried to attack a maid at his luxury manhattan hotel. he is also accused of committing a criminal sexual act and unlawful imprisonment. strauss-khan is expected to enter a not guilty plea during a court appearance today. >>> all around israel's borders today scenes just like this. palestinians facing off and clashing with israeli troops. in the golan heights on the lebanese border in gaza, several people are reported killed, many more hurt. today is the day every year when palestinians angrily protest the creation of israel. >>> and join me for more news at the top of the hour. "fareed zakaria: gps" continues after this. it's true. you never forget your first subaru. >>> there is a good chance that you either have a tablet, one of those computing devices that's larger than a cell phone

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 corps said that could have destroyed levees, and floodwalls all the way down to new orleans. and drowned that city inasmuch as 25 feet of water. dean reynolds, cbs news morganza, louisiana. >>> now to politics. another prominent republican is expected to announce today that he is running for the white house. tara mergener is in washington with details. good morning, ta

. >> federal authorities opened three more flood gates of louisiana's morganza spillway. they're trying divert water from the mississippi river to save new orleans and baton resume from flooding. the river has crested at 17 feet above stage in new orleans. here's more. >> reporter: four flood gates are now open at the time morganza spill we were. the mississippi river is rushing through, farmlands transformed from a dry field to a lake. houses and roads being submerged. even animals are being forced to deal with the rising water. opening the spillway diverted the water from the more heavily populated cities of baton scrooge new orleans. >> -- baton rouge and new orleans. >> nothing is going to push us out. >> people in the path of the flood waters are urged to evacuate. some people 50 miles from the spillway are raising to get valuables to higher ground. >> i'm going to watch it daily, and if i see it coming up, you know, if i feel threatened by it, i'm going. >> reporter: perry has lived in more began city for 20 years. >> going to have nice quiet life. retirement. and s

lower mississippi basin tonight where the army corps of engineers has opened four gates at the morganza spillwaythe pressure valve they're depending on. entire towns now completely under water. people in the small town of butte la rose know they could be next. abc'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 f

. >>> the morganza spillway is foreign the first time in nearly 40 years. water is gushing toward thousands of home and farmland in the cajun countryside and is threatening to submerge land up to 25 feet deep. here's here from louisiana. >> the flood gates are open, the mississippi river purposefully unleashed. this spillway is designed to move water fast. it can move 600,000 cubic feet per second, three times the rate of niagra fall. but they're taking it slow, opening one gate today, two or three more tomorrow, trying to balance the node to relieve pressure on the leaveys and giving people enough time to get to higher ground. >> water is coming their way and they need to evacuate. >> reporter: the wart will move gradually and will take an estimated 12 hours to reach this up to. 30 hours to hit henderson. more than three days before it floods morgan city before making its way into the gulf. >> for the folks down river, can they expect federal compensation if they lose their property? >> the thing to remember is public safety is our number one priority and

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 you the truth, i don't think i'm going back. >> reporter: the flood has been a boon to ronny tyler's t-shirt business. >> this is where my daughter sleeps. >> reporter: but he can't get to his home. >> excuse the mess

. >> reporter: that's if officials open the morganza spillway, a relief valve for the mississippi river but a potential disaster for part of southwestern louisiana. the morganza could impact 13,000 buildings, 25,000 people, and 3 million acres of land. >> put it back up here. >> reporter: 2 1/2 acres belong to john menard. he's packing up his butte larose home and heading for higher ground. leaving his cypress clad home shattered, this big tough oil worker. what is it like to think about losing your house? >> the words -- no words. because i built this myself. >> reporter: the atchafalaya river is already above 19 feet. the national weather service's jonathan bryzell marked a telephone pole to show residents what could happen. >> if they open the spillway gates at 50%, so half are open, we're expecting the level to get to 29. >> john menard is resigned. >> mother nature is mother nature, and there's not much you can do about it, you know. >> reporter: few here are willing to take a chance on mother nature. even though the flood is not expected to hit here until next week, today, we alre

the governor of louisiana said today they are going to open the flood gates at the spillway at morganza tomorrow, first time they have done that since 1973. and a critical step in fighting this flood. great news for baton rouge and new orleans, opening the flood gates will ease pressure on the levees and theoretically lower the river a foot or more. but for those 25,000 people in the path of what will be a torrent of water, it's time to leave behind three million soon- to-be-flooded acres. >> that means that water is coming, now is the time. now is the time to review your plans. if you're in the northern part of the spillway the water is only a couple days away at most. >> reporter: opening the morganza spillway will also lessen pressure on a critical flood-control system just upriver. called the old river control system, it's designed to literally hold the mississippi on course. while the river's basic path has been unchanged for centuries, its natural inclination is to flow into the atchafalaya river basin, and roll 65 miles west of new orleans. the control system allows about 30% of

. >> reporter: in the morganza spillway the water may not be rising as fast as expected, but fred montgomery says it is rising over acres of farm land. >> right down the road we've got another 600. >> and it's all underwater? >> everything's underwater. >> reporter: the gates of the morganza opened saturday and flooded these fields. part of the projected $300 million louisiana farmers will lose. >> this is a spillway. this is what it's meant to do, and this is what it's going to do. >> i'm waiting on the water. >> reporter: bradley grimmet grows corn and soybeans on 700 acres in the spillway. but with no soybeans planted, he says the flood has already cost him $200,000 and could get worse. >> whatever the water does controls what will happen to us. you know. but we stand to lose everything, actually. >> reporter: now, bradley grimmet is not alone. economists say that americans could pay higher food prices because of the flood. but it's the people here that may pay the highest price of all. brian? >> anne thompson starting us off in louisiana. could not be a sadder story for so many folks dow

of the bonnet carre spillway north of new orleans and it's considering doing the same at the morganza spillway near baton rouge. dean reynolds on how these spillways work. >> reporter: in butte larosa, louisiana, duane ferrell 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. get our stuff out and hope for the best. >> reporter: his property lies two football fields from the atchafalaya river, where the water is over its banks and up in 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 with the atchafalaya and pour of a torrent of water over the low- lying farms, homes, and businesses for a hundred miles south to the gulf of

in louisiana the army corps of engineers have opened 11 gates in the morganza spillway. 2,000 structures are directly in the path of the floodwaters. there is one hopeful development. the national weather service predicts the mississippi river will crest 2.5 feet lower than expected today in baton rouge. >> rob marciano is live in melville, louisiana, this morning, where people were ordered to leave their homes on sunday. so what is the situation right now? >> well, in the bigger cities, they're breathing easier. in baton rouge you mentioned the river expected to crest much, much lower now, the same in new orleans, because we've opened these floodgates and relieved the pressure downstream. but that means that the folks that live in this spillway or floodway are being flooded out slowly, but surely. as you mentioned here in melville, folks were told to leave their homes, at least if they're not in the protected area of the levee system, which is where we are right now. behind me is the atchafalaya river which is swollen beyond capacity, flooding out roads here across this

morganza spillway looks like this. a little bit of water comicome ing through. the gates stop the water. if you decide to open the gates, you can see how that works. you let a lot more water through the gates. that's pretty basic how it would work. the question is, what are the consequences? let's bring this down. i just showed you an animation of one gate. there are 125 of them. 125 bays across the spillway. it stretches 4,000 feet. it controls access, 4.5 million gallons of water. i want to show you why this is so important, as this plays out. here's the sense here, you see this flood area here? look at the scale here. if it's pink, it's moderate flooding. if it's orange or red, it's severe flooding. this is a scenario right now, if they open the spillway about halfway, this is the scenario. now, obviously, you see some flooding here along the edge, but you see new orleans and this area in here more populated, much less flooding. now, if they don't open the spillway, this is what happens. this is if you don't open th