(Updated) Flood prep work continues; Corps doesn't anticipate opening Morganza

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers does not anticipate operating the Morganza Control Structure during this high-water event based on current Mississippi River forecasts and hydraulic modeling, the Corps announced Monday afternoon.
Area leaders worked through the weekend to make preparations to protect St. Mary and the surrounding parishes from flood waters.
Over the weekend, the National Weather Service’s projected Atchafalaya River crest in Morgan City dipped by about 6 inches to 8 feet Jan. 23. That projected crest doesn’t take into account the opening of the Morganza Spillway, which would raise the river level in Morgan City.
The Atchafalaya was at 6.65 feet this morning and projected to rise to 7.5 feet by Friday, the National Weather Service website stated.
The opening of the Morganza Spillway has been delayed until Thursday at the earliest, according to a Morgan City news release.
This morning, St. Mary Levee District officials were working to install the barge on Bayou Chene that will be used to protect the Amelia area from flooding, Levee District Executive Director Tim Matte said.
Workers will place the barge into a 425-foot long hole and then start driving steel sheet pilings around the barge, Matte said.
Matte expected workers to begin driving sheet pilings today. Throughout the weekend, workers drove pipe pilings, which will hold the barge in place, he said.
The sheet pilings are what actually block the flood waters.
Lower projected crests up-river, including at Baton Rouge, have decreased the likelihood the Corps will need to open the Morganza Spillway, Matte said.
The Louisiana National Guard has sent 120 troops to work around the clock to construct levees made of HESCO baskets on Avoca Island, a news release said. The baskets are filled with sand and rocks.
These barriers keep waters from bypassing Bayou Chene, going into Intracoastal Waterway and Bayou Boeuf, and eventually flooding Amelia and Lower St. Martin and Terrebonne parishes, Matte said.
Constructing a flood protection wall on Avoca Island is a “critical piece” to protect the surrounding communities, Matte said.
“If you blocked off the Chene, and you didn’t raise the levee on Avoca, that same water would just go around the (Bayou Chene) structure and cross Avoca Island and be on the backside of that barge,” Matte said. “The water would be in the same spot. It would just take a different route to get there.”
Berwick Mayor Louis Ratcliff said town officials will close its second floodgate Tuesday at Pacific Street. Town leaders are monitoring the river height and will close subsequent gates accordingly, Ratcliff said.
Morgan City officials have already closed floodgates at Freret Street, Railroad Avenue and Front Street, the S.P.T.C. Spur (S. Track) and S.P.T.C. (Four Tracks), Chief Administrative Officer Marc Folse said. Officials will close gates at Shell Oil, New Park Environmental, Brashear Avenue West and Brashear Avenue East this afternoon and Tuesday, Folse said.
Morgan City workers delivered a few thousand sandbags to lower St. Martin Parish this weekend. City crews prepared these bags Saturday and delivered them to Stephensville, Morgan City Mayor Frank “Boo” Grizzaffi posted on his Facebook page.
St. Martin Parish officials will host a public meeting at 6 p.m. today in the Stephensville Elementary School gym, 3243 La. 70, to discuss the potential flood event, according to the St. Martin Parish Sheriff’s Office.
Residents in Amelia and the surrounding areas can pick up sand and sandbags under the La. 182 Amelia bridge. Residents must fill their own bags.
Officials plan to deliver more sand bags under the bridge as the supply runs out, Parish Emergency Preparedness Director Duval Arthur said.