it s not a main levee. it s a back levee. it points further stop. highway 23 has not been overtopped. it has not been closed. that is possible going forward. this validates i believe the decision that president kirk lapine made to have a mandatory evacuation in the lower portion of plakaman s parish. we anticipated that the back levee would be overtopped and so we are not surprised by what has happened. but what everyone should understand, no mississippi river levee has been overtopped and not a single levee in the state of louisiana as of right now has failed or breached. finally, i want to share with everyone that if you are in need of a shelter, you can text lashelter to 898-211-or you can
it looks like rapids coming over the back levee. so it is a lot of water that has been dumped in some of these areas. and with the winds blowing a consistent 30 miles per hour down here with gusts 50, 55 miles per hour. so it just keeps pushing that water towards our back levees. and it s not supposed to let up for a while. so give me an idea of, you know, the proximity of homes, livelihoods, to some of these areas where the levees have been overtopped. in myrtle grove, we have a waterfront community. but those houses are built up. several feet. so i think we were okay in those areas. the problem not so many communities in this area as a lot of cattle, which right now we have rescue efforts on the cattle. but the problem comes in, louisiana highway 23 is our main and only means of travel from
fatal. now, as you mentioned, new orleans so far fine. the levees on the mississippi so far, fine. let s get an update on that from the governor of louisiana. we actually anticipated that the back levee would be overtopped, and so we are not surprised by what has happened. but what everyone should understand, no mississippi river levee has been overtopped, and not a single levee in the state of louisiana as of right now has failed or breached. reporter: now, the next thing, of course, as you mentioned, ana, that we re looking at is the rain coming from above. we have been expecting it here for the past few hours. the forecast keeps on pushing it forward. barry is very slow-moving. moving right now at just a little bit more than a walking pace. but the fear for towns like this that are low-lying this is low-lying farm country, cattle
plaquemines parish are being told as the floodwater continues to encroach there. the levees in the plaquemines parish have overtopped in multiple locations, and there is a concern that the water could wash over a major highway, trapping anyone who has not evacuated. i want to bring in now plaquemines parish sheriff, jerry turlich. so while the governor and lieutenant governor have said the levees have been overtopped, not necessarily breached, talk about the concern and how threatening is it that people are being asked to get out now. at least within a couple of hours. well, we have multiple overtoppings of our back levee canals. it in myrtle grove, and
get worse. hurricane storm surge being pushed upriver, essentially stopping the flow, lifting the levels and potentially sending water right into downtown. the army corps of engineers says though the roughly 20 foot high levees may be overtopped, they will not fail, nor should the flood walls, improved after katrina. we re confident that we are not going to have a duplicate of katrina. however, if you have a storm that has elevations much higher than those flood walls, you re going to get water in the city. reporter: david, officials obviously preparing for the worst. those katrina upgrades are going to be tested with this storm. and there s still a fair amount of uncertainty when it comes to the intensity of this storm. that said, hurricane warnings have just been posted as we come on the air across the louisiana coastline. tropical storm warnings up for new orleans and baton rouge. flash flood watches for louisiana, all the way into the florida panhandle. big rains with this. the