Something ELSE to worry about

This from the National Weather Service yesterday:

FLOOD STATEMENT

NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NEW ORLEANS BATON ROUGE LA
531 PM CDT TUE MAY 3 2011

...THE FLOOD WARNING CONTINUES FOR THE FOLLOWING RIVERS IN LOUISIANA...

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...

FORECAST CRESTS ARE BASED UPON RAINFALL THAT HAS OCCURRED ALONG WITH
ANTICIPATED RAIN FOR THE NEXT 12 HOURS. ADJUSTMENTS TO THE FORECASTS WILL BE MADE IF ADDITIONAL HEAVY RAINFALL OCCURS.

DO NOT DRIVE CARS THROUGH FLOODED AREAS. REMEMBER...TWO FEET OF RUSHING WATER CAN CARRY AWAY MOST VEHICLES INCLUDING PICKUPS. TURN
AROUND AND DON`T DROWN.

A FOLLOWUP PRODUCT WILL BE ISSUED LATER. STAY TUNED TO NOAA WEATHER
RADIO...LOCAL TV AND RADIO STATIONS...OR YOUR CABLE PROVIDER...FOR
THE LATEST INFORMATION. THE LATEST GRAPHICAL HYDROLOGIC INFORMATION
CAN ALSO BE FOUND AT WEATHER.GOV.

&&

LAC033-121-042231-
/O.CON.KLIX.FL.W.0040.000000T0000Z-000000T0000Z/
/BTRL1.3.ER.110503T1620Z.110524T0000Z.000000T0000Z.NR/
531 PM CDT TUE MAY 3 2011

THE FLOOD WARNING CONTINUES FOR THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER AT BATON ROUGE.
* UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE...OR UNTIL THE WARNING IS CANCELLED.
* AT 4:00 PM TUESDAY THE STAGE WAS 35.2 FEET.
* MINOR FLOODING IS OCCURRING AND RECORD FLOODING IS FORECAST.
* FLOOD STAGE IS 35.0 FEET.
* FORECAST...THE RIVER WILL CONTINUE RISING TO A CREST NEAR 47.5 FEET BY
MONDAY MAY 23RD.

$$
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I have no idea what the ultimate effect may be from this since this has never happened before - not even close - since I moved down here in 1974.   But we live only a short distance from the river (you can see the levee if you look down the road) in a house that's built up less than 2 feet above ground level. 

 If the river rises above the level of the levees (and the levees here are slightly lower than they are downtown) will that mean the house will flood? --- or that water will spread out at a low level over miles of land since the land here is basically completely flat?  Well, come to think of it, maybe it isn't completely flat.  Highland Road - about 8 miles away - is where the river used to go at high water before the levees were built, and that area is probably about 100 feet higher than the land where we live.  So although our home is not considered to be in a floodplain according to the insurance maps, we actually DO live in a "floodplain"!  We DO have flood insurance, but still . . .    What about the horses, for instance??  If we were forced to evacuate, we only have a 2-horse trailer and THREE horses!   I hope we would be given enough notice to make two trips with the horse trailer to . . . wherever.

But the papers this morning have all been saying that the "powers that be" are planning to open a couple of the spillways near Baton Rouge to protect Baton Rouge and New Orleans.  That's one good thing about living so close to a large town.  We're only about 10 miles south of LSU, 12 miles from downtown Baton Rouge.  And we're about 45 miles northwest of New Orleans.  So I hope that means that whatever they do to protect those cities will also protect us from any flooding.  But I'll definitely be spending some time when I get home this evening checking online to see exactly what's going to be done and what they expect might happen if all the possibilities come together for the worst - like more torrential rains up north, say. 

(Our place looks so good lately . . . I keep remembering the fact that the last time we got the place landscaped and looking this good was just before the hurricane wiped it all out!)

Scary.