devastation was intertwined with a handful of questionable decisions made in recent years across southern louisiana . in two thousand and five ivor was named director of the louisiana state university hurricane center. louisiana chose him to lead its investigation into the levee failures during hurricane katrina. didn't take me very long to realize that there was one agency to blame and i was a call vention s. for shoddy shoddy engineering. after i've ever published his official levy report his university contract was terminated. before we both were living. in the superhero trade schools before we cut out everything with oil and gas taxes and else we used to have very extensive cypress swamps all the way along the coasts . cities like new orleans used to have almost thirty miles of moss. you can knock the surge down and maybe as much as six feet within one mile of healthy sightless where. protecting the museum is coastline and its people in the future will require some difficult choices coastal erosion must. remain in cyprus swamps and must be protected the mississippi river may have to be diverted

over 25,000 people live into that part of southern louisiana.ontinues 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 filling up sandbags and the families and residents here are going to be allowed to voluntarily go and pick up these sandbags to help protect their property but it does look like a good chance that flooding will be taking place into this part of southern louisiana. >> patrick crawford for us, we appreciate the update. thank you

. >>> back here in the united states people in southern louisiana are getting extra time to prepare for flood waters from the mississippi river. a mandatory evacuation order was issued. it goes back into effect tomorrow at noon. yesterday prison crews were put to work filling sandbags. flooding may not be as bad as originally feared giving some people some hope. >> they lowered the river stage to 24.5. i feel i have a better percentage of protecting my property. >> and that has left farms and homes and low lying areas vulnerable. there is a new threat of flooding this time in montana. the main east west route through the state nearly six inches of rain fell in billings. as many as 100 homes in the billings area are isolated because of that flooding. >>> new details this morning on the explosion at a livermore apartment that seriously injured three people. it happened saturday afternoon. the blast blew out the windows, part of the porch, and left a huge hole in the roof. evidence gathered points to some sort of illegal drug operation inside the apartment. one neighbor told us she would a

here at the port of baton rouge and throughout southern louisiana, everyone is working so hard because there is no time left to lose with the mississippi river rising and the imminent opening of the morganza spillway, which could send water rushing into an area at a rate of 2 million gallons per second. these are desperate hours in this parish. residents wait in long lines for supplies to defend their homes from the mississippi river water that will flood their neighborhood when the morganza spillway is opened to save baton rouge and new orleans. cold comfortable to leroy, trying to protect his house. >> we're poor people. i'm not agreeable to opening the gate up. no, i'm not in agreement with that. >> reporter: upriver, in vicksburg, mississippi, highway 61, a main thoroughfare is closed so crews can build a levee to keep the water at bay. this farmer is doing the same. using dirt from his corn field to construct a 19-foot wall of mud around his house. >> i don't have flood insurance, so i have to try to save it. >> reporter: in baton rouge, neon colored tiger dams are rolled out to p

cleanup is under way in southern louisiana. tornadoes struck a town east of baton rouge. five people were injured in atlanta. two women were killed when high winds from a passing thunderstorm knocked a large tree onto their car. officials in missouri say 232 people are still unaccounted for in the wake of sunday's tornado in joplin. this morning the death toll there stands at 126. ben tracy reports. >> reporter: for more than three days michelle harrah has been searching for something she cannot replace, her 16-year-old son lance, tossed in his car during the tornado. >> his backpack was still inside of it. >> reporter: michelle was still positive. do you still have hope? >> i -- obviously i have to. >> reporter: but just minutes after our interview, a police officer arrived. what happened? >> i have gotten a visit from the joplin police department, notifying me that my son has been identified. >> reporter: he's dead? >> yes, exactly. but it is, in some way, a comfort to at least know that he's in a better place, and that we don't have to wonder if he's out there needing

we're keeping a very sharp eye on the southern end of louisiana. rising over the next couple of hours, days, and certainly possibly weeks. let's send it back you to. >> appreciate you, buddy. we'll check this with you again shortly. >> you bet. >>> we're looking back at baseball players like jackie robinson and hank aaron. i had a chance to sit down with hank aaron and talk baseball, of course. but also how baseball is losing touch with young black men. >> it could be better. it could be a lot better. we don't have as many african-americans playing baseball now as we used to have. any time we have an economic struggle in this country, we and i mean we, the blacks would are going to feel the pinch a lot quicker than anybody. and baseball is a very expensive game. >> kids can turn on tv and see that immediate -- that instant fame or what not from basketball or football. >> i just don't believe baseball has sold itself as much in the black area as it should have. you know? really, i think that somehow i think football has been a terrific job. i think

thousands of people have one hour to pack up and leave their homes in southern louisiana.ters from the mississippi river heading their

. >>> people in southern, louisiana are getting a little extra time to prepare for flood waters in the mississippi river. a mandatory evacuation was lifted over the weekend. it does go into effect though back tomorrow at noon. yesterday prison crews were put to work filling sandbags. much of the area is desserted but there are still a few holdouts. >> we've had to make the decision to wait to the last second to get o out. we never thought the water was coming up. >> army corp of engineer opened up two spill ways in louisiana to avoid major flooding. that have left the farms and homes in low lying areas vulnerable. >>> back here at home closing arguments are expected to wrap up today in the chauncey bailey murder trial. the case could go to the jury as early as this afternoon. yusuf bey is accused of killing bailey. they wanted to stop bailey about writing an article about the financial collapse of the bakery. >>> crack down on people who do not wear their seat belts starts today. the fine for not wearing a seat belt is $142 for a first time adult offender. it's $445 for a child who is

. >>> people in southern louisiana are getting a little extra time to prepare for flood waters from thea mandatory evacuation order was lifted over the weekend. it goes back into effect tomorrow afternoon. yesterday prison crews were put to work filling sandbags. forecast shows flooding may not be as bad as originally feared. giving some people some hope. >> since they lowered the river stage to 24.5 i feel i have a better shot of protecting my property than when it was 27 or 29. >> now the army corp of engineers opened two spillways in louisiana to avoid major flooding in heavy populated new orleans and baton rouge. >>> time now 5:46 this morning. pakistani troops regain control of a naval base that was taken over by taliban militants that occupied that facility for 18 hours. at least 12 hours of the pakistan security forces were killed in the battle. two u.s. surveillance aircraft were also destroyed. the attack was revenge for the raid that killed osama bin laden. >>> an academy award winning song writer that was awaiting trial for sexually assaulting a dozen women is dead. police fo

"newshour" correspondent tom bearden reports from southern louisiana. >> reporter: an enormous quantity of water is roaring through the bonnet carre spillway west of new orleans. it's being diverted from the main channel of the mississippi river, and surging toward lake ponchartrain. the army corps of engineers opened the floodgates on may 9 to lower the level of the flood- swollen river and take pressure off the levees that protect new orleans. but some people are worried about what's in all that the water-- high levels of nitrogen fertilizer, pesticides from flooded fields further north and sediment. and how it all might affect the environment. we went along with hydrologist dennis demcheck and his u.s. geological survey team on one of their trips out onto the busy 24 mile long causeway that bisects lake ponchatrain. they're taking water samples to test for things like pesticides and petrochemicals. they're also looking for the level of salt in the water. >> the salinity is 1.5. normally, that would be double or triple that. >> reporter: demcheck says ponchartrain is really an enormou

pushes eastward certainly will not help matters, although things are pretty bad in parts of southern louisianaf mississippi also. i would think a stray thunderstorm or two is not going to make the situation that much worse than it already is. right now the type of reason we're seeing is very quick moving. some strong storms developing this morning in places like arkansas. on this map you see little rock, some storms just popping up, hot springs has had some fairly heavy rainfall this morning. would not be surprised at all if we have a little bit of flash flooding this morning in little rock and places with poor drainage and low lying areas. the major catalyst is this storm system driving from west to east has already spawned tornadoes across parts of kansas just yesterday. now we may see the threat exist all the way from the central western great lakes clear down through portions of the mid mississippi valley and back down into north texas. dallas, ft. worth, denton, texas, maybe even later today as far south and austin you may have a rumble of thunder, perhaps even an isolated tornado. >> bac

what an agonizing wait right now for people in southern louisiana. after the army corps of engineers makes the difficult decision to open floodgates. some cities will be saved, others will not. >>> a grammy winner, an oscar winner, a hall of famer, and me. who doesn't belong in this room? i get carlos santana, morgan freeman, ernie banks in the same room and try to get them to stop selling themselves short. >>> documenting a terrorist takedown. those s.e.a.l.s who went in after osama bin laden had high-tech cameras. we have new details for you. welcome to this "cnn sunday morning." i'm t.j. holmes. as always a special good morning to our military men and women watching us on the armed forces network. thank you for being here and thank you for what you do. we need to start with what's happening in louisiana, an intentional flooding that's taking place. look at this here, one floodgate is opened now at the morganza spillway. more gates could be opened later today. the whole point is to try to relieve some pressure on the swollen mississippi river. the

i know ed lavendera was talking about the situation with the flooding and southern louisiana, some realhappened over the weekend. it happened on saturday. they opened that morganza floodgate, that gate that brought all the water in out of the river and into the gulf of mexico in a shorter distance of time. it flooded 3 million acres of land. still flooding right now. here a your i-report from cajun country. water is going to continue to come up because not even half of the gates are open. they are going to keep the gates open to keep the water level -- level -- in new orleans. that's their glooal right now, keep is at 27 feet. that's at or above flood stage. it is not going to be at the top of the levee because it could have been much, much higher. of course the top of the levee could be a problem. let's go right to the morganza floodway and i will tell what you it means. here's new orleans, here's the mississippi river. what they did over the weekend is they opened up the gates at morganza. the gates allow water to come down in a low area, low level. this is the bayou. these are differ

hundreds of years when the mighty mississippi swells to record levels leaving states from southern indiana to louisiana under flood warnings. our team is on the banks of the mississippi river this morning where entire towns are already submerged. it's incredible to see. plus the parents of tyler clemente, the rutgers university student who jumped to his death after being cyber bullied they're speaking out for the first time. we'll tell you what they have to say to the students who have been charged with causing their son to commit suicide. it was, as you might imagine, very emotional. and just a week after her fairy tale wedding, kate middle ton was seen out and about doing her own grocery shopping. could this be the new face of the royals? it's all coming up next on "good morning america" on this saturday morning. janelle, back to you. >> they're just regular everyday people, aren't they? >> so they say. >> yes, so they say. with all the cameras following them. thanks so much. >> thanks. >> well, let's switch over to sports now this afternoon. local trainer jeff bondy will have his first run for the r

will be right back the golden gate bridge in very >> darya: the gates have opened in southern sorry southeastern louisianathe mississippi river bearing down on new orleans, engineers say it is opening more base at this bill way which diverts water into lake pontchartrain. national weather service says the river was 2 in. above flood stage cresting may 23rd at more 19 ft.. catfish farming in mississippi facing grave danger from the flooding. threatening the economy that generates to honor million dollars in sales. an industry that is. it is the leading producer of farm raised catfish. floods could spur more farmers to quit. some farmers built levees but many can't afford that. >> mark: bay area weather live looks from mt. tam. james is watching the forecast. >> james: you can see the fog around the city will be a beautiful day it will burn off before too much longer. pleasant afternoon lot like yesterday a great way to end the week before the storms come in for the weekend. here's where the temperatures are right now upper 40's, low 50s. 50 oakland, 50 san jose, cooler to the north with 41 in san rosa, war

the wide view showing a line of storms that has been along a front stretching from southern ontario all the way to louisiana alabama. and some parts of wisconsin, kentucky up to southern ohio they're getting a few areas of some thunder. no strong storms. but this is the front coming our way later this afternoon. looks like it will be intensifying. and unfortunately we could have strong storms. right now look at that serene sunrise over the potomac river. live picture from the city camera. our sunrise 6:08. by 9:00, near 70. a little sun in and out to early afternoon. near 80 by noon time. low to mid-80s by early afternoon. dress for a summer-like day. by late afternoon we have a threat of storms and maybe isolated severe storms with damaging winds, hail and, yes, maybe an isolated tornado from 5:00 this afternoon to around 8:00, 9:00, 10:00 tonight. after that storm activities should dissipate by midnight. until dawn, much cooler and maybe showers around. this time low 50s. much cooler tomorrow. sun back in the afternoon after a few morning showers. high near 60. near 70 thursday and friday. might got a sho

southern california may 22nd. >>> on the national front a surge in mississippi river lead to one of 125 flood gates being opened in louisiana. more are going to open as waters move down stream. the gates will redirect water away from the city's of baton rouge and oil and chemical facilities diverted flood waters are expected to crawl through louisiana swamp areas where 25,000 people live. >>> police interrogating several people as they continue to investigate a deadly shooting. this happened around 7:30 p.m. last night broad daylight 100 block ablton near holly park victims were found in the streets and nearby courtyard responding officers found three men total who had been shot two later died they were 21 and 26 years old paramedics treated a third man, 30 years old for gunshot wounds he is expected to live. police have detained multiple sus%s not made any arrests they are trying to figure out if this was the result of gang activity. >> seven young men accused in the death of a german tourist will be back in court a judge delayed arraignment until tomorrow during raids earlier this month the men were arrested for the death

>> brown: concern over mother nature's toll, in fact, stretched from southern illinois to the gulf of mexico. downstream in louisiana, authorities have opened flood gates at drainage channels to take pressure off levees. the inmates were also being moved from the angola state penitentiary near baton rouge. some were removed. others shifted to less vulnerable buildings nearby. with preparations underway, louisiana governor bobby jindal urged the public to use caution. >> in many parts of the state they're warning folks to stay away from the levees, to stay away from the operations, to fortify those levees. so i know there's a lot of curiosity. i know folks are attempted to drive their vehicles up to the levees. would strongly encourage our residents follow the guidance of your local law enforcement officials. just like we said during hurricanes hope for the best. prepare for the worst. >> brown: taken altogether events of the last days have brought back memories of the great flood of 1927. which left numerous areas along the mississippi devastated and killed hundreds of people. >> this is the second greatest flood in

southern california. but they are out of louisiana. it's called lamar advertising.s of today we're starting to see some of these billboards pop up. by the end of the month, we expect there will be 300 of these billboards, all around town, essentially, these are wented -- warranted posters. they say wanted for attempted murder and they show the sketches of the two pentagons believed to have attack bryan stow along with the reward information. at least $100,000 and then the phone number as well to the lapd for information leading to the arrest. we expect 200 posters toking distributed around town. >> all right, bob decastro live for us in los angeles. thank you. >>> north bay firefighters collected more than $30,000 for burn victims during a long parade through two counties. [ sirens ] >> with lights and sirens blaring they made several stops and picked up money from fund- raisers and community events along with individuals who wrote checks as they saw firefighters roll into town. by end of the day, they collected $34,9 05. >>> right now brentwood is part of the east

southern university jaguars. i hope they're -- there are a lot of alligators and crocodiles and all that in louisiana. chad, you bring up a good point, but i want you to stand by. i can't believe the video. it's amazing to watch. you can't take your eyes off it. general russel honore is here to try to get us through this, and some of it won't be realized for days, jennifer. tell us about how much of an area is being impacted here. >> we're talking about, to give you an idea, about half the size of the state of connect connects. we're talking 3400 square miles. here is the area we're talking a. here is the morganza flood gates. they started to open that. this is necessary to alleviate some of the stress on the mississippi river. here is the mississippi river. the water is going to be pushed this way, to the west. it's also going to be bringing some of the heavier water into the atchafalaya river. as we go down more, this is interstate 10. it's a very heavily traveled roadway. we're talking if you go from laugh yet to baton rouge or go from new orleans into houston, we could see the water level rising t

southern towns. so for the first time in almost 40 years, the army corps of engineers opened these floodgates in morganza, louisianang to spare baton rouge and new orleans and redirect the water. the consequences risking nearby low-lying towns and forcing thousands to evacuate. cnn's john king visited the affected area with governor bobby jindal earlier today. he's in morgan city, louisiana. >> reporter: john, you saw the devastation from the helicopter today, describe it for us, how ugly was it? >> reporter: eliot, it is just remarkable. and extraordinary what the state of louisiana, in conjunction with the federal government are trying to do. yes, some homes have been sacrificed but what they're trying to do is protect other communities like where i am in morgan city. you see behind me, that's supposed to be a wharf. you should be able to walk down there. instead, four feet of water, and the water is continuing to rise, as we saw with the exclusive tour with governor jindal, we've flown over the morganza pi spillway. as many as 15,000 homes could be buried, washed away, as they flood those communities. we flew ov

southern girl. i wasn't part of the great migration. we got there a couple minutes before that started. i was born in monroe, louisiana. that's the northern part of louisiana. it doesn't even have the romance of being, you know, new orleans and all of those customs. but i was born in 1932 and you can do the math in this town right after what they called the flood of the century. my mother was 15 years old when i was born. she worked as a laundress. i was given the label of being a farmed out kid. the first farming out, though, was the best part of my young life. i was given to my mother's middle sister. i went to live we are. she was a childless woman who wanted a baby very badly. so i was very, very spoiled up to the time that i was about 3.5 years old. after that, the world changed. she had tuberculosis and died. and for a child and obviously there must have been news about it. i was sent to the home with my mother and father lived. in the southern style, it was a very crowded facility. i call it that because people came from the country when they got a job, went back when they didn't have one. they came from mississ

louisiana. where people living in low-lying areas are getting out. with nine states affected, it is the biggest flood to hit the southern mississippi since 1937.'s find out more about the states and the floodwaters right now to our meteorologist jen delgado. jen? >> you're right. we're talking about record flooding across parts of the south, all along the mississippi river. we're still waiting for the mississippi river to crest, mississippi in greenville. we expect that to come later this morning, around 19.8 meters. if you want to know what that is in feet, we're talking about roughly 64 feet. incredible flooding. as we go over to video coming out of vicksburg, they are dealing with high water levels as well. you're looking at belongings floating down the river. very sad situation. keep in mind we're talking about some of the poorest areas through parts of the u.s. dealing with the flooding there and then they have to come back and try to deal with rebuilding. you're also looking at a rail station that's virtually an island. as i take you back over, we're expecting the mississippi to crest in vicksburg may 19th. if you notice for new orleans,

southern part of our country in mississippi. continues. host: joining us from shreveport, louisiana is the former commanding general of the first u.s. army, appointed to head up the joint task force on hurricane katrina. is also a member of the stevenson disaster institute. is the author of a new book ," survival." thank you for being with us. guest: good morning, cspan. host: let me begin with your own words about what is happening along the louisiana/mississippi border. you say the best defense is to go on offense. we continue to see flooding over the next week or 10 days. are we doing that? are we doing that? guest: absolutely. the system -- the flood control system along the mississippi river operated by the great corps of engineers is doing what it is supposed to do which is to release water to prevent the flooding like we had in 1927. after that flood, the flood act gave the court permission to work with the states to create a system to prevent major flooding of our major cities. and protect our farm land host: let me ask you about themz morgan'sa flood way. how does it work?

louisiana and the fast current carried them to a bridge. the coast guard shut down a five-mile stretch of the river as a result. the sandbagging continues in the southerner valley states. the good news is the national weather service lowered the expected crest by 2 1/2 feet. >>> the financially strapped new york city opera will move out of the icon eic home in lincoln center in man hat tap. they're dealing with a dwindling endowment and multimillion dollar deficit. no announcement on where the opera's new home will be. >>> the owners of a utah home got quite a surprise when they started poking around in the attic. they found $45,000 of cold hard cash in a metal box. the family could have used the money to fix up the house, they decided to give it back. it had been hidden by the previous owner who died. the original owner live in the house in the depression and stashed the cash without his children knowing. the new owners called the return a simple lesson for his kid. the name of this, bountiful. that's a good way to pass judgment. back to lester on the plaza. >>> all right. 30 years old today. happy birthday. >> thank you. >>> let's get a check of the