The Untold Story....
On April 17, 1973, I was there along the highway when they opened the Morganza Floodway gates for the first time ever. The amount of water and it's fury that poured thru was something to behold, and nothing I want to run. Both the La. Wildlife & Fisheries and Governor Edwards had pleaded to the Corps to open the gates gradually, giving time for the wildlife in the east part of the Atchafalaya Basin (some million acres or more) to get out. The Corps finally & reluctantly, agreed to open only 1/3 of the gates or about 40 of them the first day. But they stated they would have them all (120 gates?) opened within two more days, or by that Wednesday. That opening never happened, and probably never will.
Because the main E/W levees were not high enough (mis-engineered?), they barely contained the water that was released. Steel sheet pilings were driven and other repairs were scrambled into place on top of the rain drenched and now very soft main levees. If I remember right, gates were actually closed and not opened in the following days/weeks. Both the rise in water level, and resulting current in the swamp was much faster than projected by the Corp.
By boat, as a Spl. LW&F Agent, I assisted Regular LW&F Agents and personnel in retrieving deer and other animals swimming aimlessly in the now submerged fields, swamps, and gas/powerlines. Afterwards, as the water receded, animal skeletons up in the brush, trees, and elsewhere littered the landscape. We didn't have a GPS then, so we attempted to describe the few high spots where deer and other wildlife were congregated, so boats and a helicopter could make drops of feed corn.
The Corps learned a valuable lesson back then, so now you know why some 38 years later, the Corps spokeman proudly gave news interviews with only 1 ONE gate opened the first day.
Below is a Razorback, caught on a raised road bed as the water receded; a deer skeleton; and a shot looking south at the Atchafalaya River levee off the bridge at Krotz Springs, LA. I have original Morning Advocate/StateTimes Baton Rouge newspaper clippings, but they are probably copyrighted material so I didn't post them.
