County to breach levee to let out water

GLADSTONE -- Officials of Henderson County say they plan to cut holes in a levee near Gulfport to allow the water covering 28,000 acres of farmland to flow back into the receding Mississippi River.

The water is being held in check by two levees, one breached structure at Gulfport in the northern part of the county, and the elevated tracks of the Burlington Northern Santa Fe railroad to the south. When the water came in, it washed away a large part of the railroad bed.

The $30 million repair to the railroad track is nearly complete, which would block water drainage to the south. The solution is to cut holes in the main levee and allow water to flow that way to the river.

Army Corps of Engineers field engineer Michael Tarpey estimated there was about 30 billion gallons of water behind the levee as of Tuesday.