VIDALIA, La. (AP) — Federal authorities are working to stabilize part of a Mississippi River levee in central Louisiana as the river rises.
The Natchez Democrat reports that a sand boil shows water is seeping below a levee near Union Point, about 30 miles (50 kilometers) south of Vidalia in Concordia Parish.
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers River Operations Branch Chief Jimmy Coldiron says that section of levee has developed numerous sand boils over time. Engineers usually react by trying to equalize water pressure on both sides and creating a filter to keep the boil from liquefying the levee.
Coldiron says the current predicted crest of 57 feet (17.4 meters) on March 19 in Natchez isn't overly troublesome. But he says workers are trying to take precautions in case the river rises higher.