Floods in the United States: 2001–present floodgates of the Morganza Spillway were opened, marking the first use of the gates since the 1973 flood. 330 of the Bonnet Carré Spillway's gates were opened to save the levees protecting New Orleans. There was concern that if the Old River Control Structure, the Morganza Spillway, or the Bonnet Carré Spillway failed, the Mississippi River could change its course, flowing either into the Atchafalaya Basin or Lake Pontchartrain. In early September, the remnants of Tropical Storm Lee had stalled due to Hurricane Katia. As a result, the main cyclone stalled over the Midwest, and a cold front associated with
Morganza, Louisiana on December 10, 2008: Morganza was the site of a Union Army encampment during the American Civil War. The largest battle in Pointe Coupee Parish was fought at nearby Stirling Plantation, on September 29, 1863. Sixteen Federal troops were killed, 45 were wounded, and 462 were taken prisoner. The Confederate losses included 26 dead, 85 wounded, and 10 missing. Although the Battle of Sterling Plantation was a Confederate victory, the Union troops burned the town of Morganza to the ground on October 1, 1863. Historian John D. Winters in "The Civil War in Louisiana" (1963) documents the arrival in May