Floodgate closes, as flooding in Mississippi Delta worsens

VICKSBURG, Miss. (AP) – A floodgate in Mississippi is closed again to prevent the rising Mississippi River from spilling inland and worsening flooding in parts of the Mississippi Delta.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers says it closed the Steele Bayou floodgate north of Vicksburg on Saturday.

The gate first closed Feb. 15 and reopened April 1.

The Corps of Engineers still predicts water inside levees that protect the Delta will rise higher than this year’s earlier crest. That produced the worst flooding in the region since 1973.

The flooding makes it unlikely Delta farmers will plant summer crops on hundreds of thousands of acres.

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