WAFB Channel 9, Baton Rouge, LA |Angola Prepares for Additional Flooding on Penitentiary Grounds
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Photo by: Randy LeDuff/WAFB-TVANGOLA, La. (WAFB) - State and local officials are keeping a close watch on the rising waters of the Mississippi. The river is expected to crest on Wednesday, April 16th. However, some communities have already been impacted. 30% of the Angola State Penitentiary grounds are under water. WAFB's Cheryl Mercedes and photojournalist Randy LeDuff got a bird's eye view of the changes taking place at Angola.
"We have over 4,000 acres flooded." Warden Burl Cain says water has inundated most of the land surrounding Angola's outer levee system. Inmates whip sling blades through overgrown grass nearby and hundreds of cattle have already been moved to higher ground, where grazing gounds are scarce. About a week ago, the Mississippi River got so high that the Army Corps of Engineers busted through a levee to control flooding in the main penitentiary area. "We knew the levee going to the ferry was going to flood and we didn't want it to breach between the ferry gate and the prison. Because, then couldn't get people up the road" the warden says.
The grounds are under surveillance 24 hours a day. Cain says if the levee breaches, in just four hours, the main prison area would be 20 feet under water. Those who work at the prison have been forced to take another mode of transportation to and from work. Dozens of employees park their cars at the base of the ferry landing and take a platoon boat across the rising water. Emergency rescue teams and officials from surrounding parishes are putting their heads together in case they have to move more than 4,000 prisoners. "We're gonna take trustees and stuff like that in local jails and help put state cell blocks for Angola inmates," says Sheriff Mike Cazes of West Baton Rouge Parish.
These officials have been through this scenario before. They say they're just playing it safe, so in the coming weeks, the Mississippi River doesn't give them a reason to be sorry. We have learned the levee in the Morganza area breached early Monday morning. Farmers spent the last couple of weeks sandbagging the levee there to help prevent that from happening. There is no word yet on their losses.
Reporter: Cheryl Mercedes, WAFB 9NEWS
