High Water Halts Work On French Quarter Flood Wall

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — The rising Mississippi River has prompted the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to halt replacement of a 500-foot-long flood wall at the edge of New Orleans' French Quarter.

Nola.com/The Times-Picayune reports that the work was stopped Thursday.

A corps spokesman said work was required to stop as part flood fight plans that take effect when the river reaches 15 feet at the Carrollton gage in New Orleans. The river surpassed 15 feet Monday and was still rising.

The Corps opened the Bonnet Carre Spillway northwest of the city on Thursday to divert some of the river's flow into Lake Pontchartrain. That will keep the water below a forecast 17-foot level at New Orleans. But it isn't expected to reduce the level to 15 feet.