Morganza Spillway of the Morganza Floodway closed. In March 1997, the river water flow at Baton Rouge reached () per second. However, the flow rate never reached the threshold of () per second for opening Morganza, and residents of Sicily Island, Louisiana, became angry that the spillway was not opened to prevent flooding in their homes. In March–April 2008, officials considered but declined to open the spillway gates. While the spillway gates remained closed then, flooding still occurred in part of the Morganza floodway when the Mississippi River crested higher than levees near the spillway. Local residents and National Guard troops attempted
2011 Mississippi River floods U.S. President Barack Obama declared the western counties of Kentucky, Tennessee, and Mississippi federal disaster areas. For the first time in 37 years, the Morganza Spillway was opened on May 14, deliberately flooding of rural Louisiana to save most of Baton Rouge and New Orleans. Fourteen people were killed in Arkansas, with 392 killed across seven states in the preceding storms. Thousands of homes were ordered evacuated, including over 1,300 in Memphis, and more than 24,500 in Louisiana and Mississippi, though some people disregarded mandatory evacuation orders. The flood crested in Memphis on May 10 and artificially crested in southern