POSTED: Thursday, May 19, 2011 - 1:33pm
UPDATED: Saturday, May 28, 2011 - 2:18pm
The Army Corps of Engineers opened a 17th gate at the Mississippi River's Morganza Spillway today, unleashing a wall of water which is now flowing into the spillway at a rate greater than that of Niagara Falls, more than 114,000 cubic feet per second.
At that rate it would take about an hour and a half to cover the entire island of Manhattan in a foot of water. So far only 17 of the 125 gates have been opened and the Corps plans to open more as the river rises.