Nightly News   |  May 12, 2011

Southern La. residents urged to prepare for floods

While officials say they don't expect for communities south of the Morganza Spillway to be forced to evacuate if the Army Corps opens the spillway, residents are being urged to plan ahead for the possibility. Weather Channel Meteorologist Chris Warren reports.

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This content comes from Closed Captioning that was broadcast along with this program.

>>> this flooding is a disaster. some of it historic, epic proportions , but something else is also true. it was predicted. we knew it was coming. we want to show you why, these numbers just came out today. this is snowfall this past winter. that number there on the left hand column is percentage above normal and the number on the right is actual inches of snow. columbia, missouri over 346% more than they usually get. here in new york city , about 5 feet of snow, philly 44 inches and so on. that was the setup for what we're seeing right now in the south. and what about the future? weather channel meteorologist chris warren in their headquarters tonight.

>> brian, we're taking a look at the effects of opening the morganza spillway . first i want to show you a look at where we have new orleans and look upstream, that's where the morganza spillway is located. if they open that this weekend, this is what is expected to happen, flood depth of up to 10 feet . in yellow, 10 to 20 feet. for morgan city , this is what we're looking at. the flood stage , keep in mind is 4 feet. with that spillway open, 12 to 13 feet of water could be heading that way. it does look like new orleans may end up being spared. but other locations like morgan city may not be so lucky.

>> chris, we're going to count on you to be part of our team keeping an eye on the water in the days ahead. thanks.