VICKSBURG — Even though the Mississippi River crested Thursday, the Army Corps of Engineers and local officials warned Vicksburg residents that they should not think that means the end of the flood.
At a news conference on a bluff overlooking the river, Col. Jeffrey R. Eckstein, commander of the Corps’ Vicksburg District, said water could remain at the record 57.1 feet level for a week and he said the river could remain about flood stage until the middle of June. Flood stage at Vicksburg is 43 feet.
“The crest is by no means the end of it,” Eckstein said.
Floodwaters also inundated Gov. Haley Barbour’s lake home in Humphreys County.
Laura Hipp, the governor’s spokeswoman, confirmed Thursday that Barbour’s house has taken on water, but she didn’t know how much. The house sits on the same land but not exactly the same site of his mother’s childhood home near Yazoo City.
Barbour and his wife, Marsha, moved their belongings out of the house earlier this month when it was predicted that the area would flood. In 2008, Barbour says the house took on about eight inches of water.
Hipp said although the governor now joins thousands of Mississippians whose homes have been flooded, he’s more concerned with making sure residents in low-lying areas evacuate.
In Sharkey County, board of supervisors president Bill Newsom isn’t celebrating yet.
“I’ll celebrate when we get below flood stage, but I’m very pleased that we didn’t have any major flooding,” Newsom said. “I’m also pleased at how all the agencies that were available came to our aide. There were measures put in place should a major flood had occurred.”
In the Greenville area, Peter Nimrod, chief engineer of the Board of Mississippi Levee Commissioners, said when the river does recede the priority will be to inspect the levee.
“The levee is in great shape, but we don’t know what (damage) may have happened,” he said. “When the water goes down, we will do a thorough job of inspecting the levee. We had some problem areas with sand boils, and that was — and is — going to happen in an event such as this. We’re going to clear up any problems that may have occurred.”
In Natchez, the Mississippi River was continuing a slow rise toward its predicted crest of 62.1 on Saturday.
The rising Mississippi River’s floodwaters have claimed a life for the first time Thursday: a 69-year-old Vicksburg man who friends described as nice, but said he appeared troubled.
Walter Cook was pulled from the water Wednesday by two firefighters on boat patrol in Vicksburg’s downtown area. Cook had been clinging to a fence in chest-deep water, but he was floating in the water by the time the firefighters got to him, Fire Chief Charles Atkins said.
Warren County Coroner Doug Huskey initially said he was going to ask for an autopsy to confirm the cause of death but later Thursday said he changed his mind after talking to Cook’s family and doctors at River Region Medical Center in Vicksburg. Doctors said Cook died of “hypoxic brain injury due to drowning.” Hypoxia is an abnormal condition resulting from a decrease in the oxygen supplied to or utilized by body tissue.
Friends and neighbors said Cook lived alone and kept to himself. His favorite place was a restaurant not far from his home, the Klondyke, said owner David Day.
He said Cook came in Wednesday asking for a lighter. He walked about a block through several inches of water to get to the restaurant, Police Chief Walter Armstrong said.
Day said he gave Cook a lighter and thought he was going home, but instead Cook went deeper into the water. Day said he yelled a warning to Cook but he kept going.
Soon after, Cook collapsed. He was taken to River Region Medical Center but died early Thursday.
“Everybody knew him around here. He was like family, really,” Day said.
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