Mississippi River River in Baton Rouge Finally Under Flood Stage

It's finally over. The flooding of the Mississippi River is officially done.

As of Sunday, August 4, the Mississippi River at Baton Rouge dropped below flood stage for the first time since very early in 2019.

The river went above flood stage back on January 6. It stayed there for a record 211 consecutive days! The old record of 135 days was set back in 1927.

The river peaked on March 18 at 44.18 feet. That ranks as the seventh-highest crest on record.

The high river level caused many headaches for south Louisiana over the past several months. Navigation along the river became treacherous at many times for boaters. One boat even hit the Sunshine Bridge.

The Army Corps of Engineers planned on opening the Morganza Spillway for only the third time in history. Thankfully, the river level and river flow rate never hit the release point, thus the opening never happened.

The Corps did, however, open the Bonnet Carre Spillway for the thirteenth time in history to relieve levels heading to New Orleans. At its peak, 206 of the 350 gates were opened.

The Spillway remained open for 79 days and closed on July 27.