BATON ROUGE, LA — March 8, 2018 — Today, Mayor-President Sharon Weston Broome announced that as a precautionary measure, East Baton Rouge Parish will deploy HESCO protection baskets this weekend along a small section of the downtown levee near North Street and River Road due to rising river levels. According the National Weather Service and US Army Corps of Engineers, there is no risk of flooding or overtopping of the levee at this time.

“We know that the Mississippi River rises and falls each year for a variety of reasons. This operation is a proactive measure as we continuously monitor projections of water levels this year,” said Mayor Broome. “I want to stress that current projections do not put water levels at risk of overtopping our levee, but I want to ensure we are over-prepared in the event of an unforeseen weather event.”

The Mississippi River is forecasted to crest at 42.5 feet on Tuesday, March 20. The lowest point of the downtown levee is 47.9 feet, and these protection baskets will increase the height by an additional three feet, temporarily blocking an access point at North and River Road. Operations will begin on Saturday, March 10, and the 36-foot-long wall of baskets will remain in place for the remainder of flood season. The City-Parish also has 10,000 prefilled sandbags as well as 10,600 feet of inflatable dams available as additional precautionary measures.

The HESCO baskets were provided by the US Army Corps of Engineers at no cost to the City-Parish. HESCO baskets have been successfully utilized by the Louisiana National Guard, the Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development, and parishes throughout the state for flood protection.

For updates on the City-Parish’s efforts, download the Red Stick Ready app or visit the Red Stick Ready Facebook page.