Memphis, Tennessee -- The Mississippi River has begun cresting at Memphis, forecasters said Tuesday, as attention began turning to flooding concerns in Louisiana and Mississippi.
The slow passing of the bulge of water working its way from north to south along the Mississippi is only the beginning of the end of the siege for Memphis residents, who could be dealing with high water levels into June.
And the struggle is just getting started for residents of Mississippi and Louisiana, where the river is expected to begin cresting next week at levels unseen since 1927.
The river level hit 48 feet, or about 14 metres on Tuesday, the highest it has been since 1937, said CTV's Joy Malbon, reporting from Memphis.
"It's like watching a slow-motion disaster happen," Malbon told CTV News Channel.
"The water took a long time to rise and it's going to take several weeks for the water to recede before people can go back into their homes.
There was no danger to Memphis' major tourist draws, such as Graceland, which lies far beyond the water's reach, and much of the city appeared normal. Levees built to prevent massive flooding were holding, according to the Army Corps of Engineers on Tuesday. Shelby County and four others were declared disaster areas by President Obama late Monday. The designation means that they'll be eligible for federal disaster aid, which local officials say is much-needed.
Cleanup was expected to be massive, and there were fears that farmland and cities further south could yet be devastated. Inmates in Louisiana's largest prison were taken to higher ground, and farmers were building homemade levees to protect their crops. Engineers diverted water into Lake Pontchartrain to ease the pressure on levees around New Orleans, where levee failures after Hurricane Katrina virtually drowned the city.
The flooding is the result of heavy rains recently and unusually heavy snow over the winter further north that began melting and adding to the already swollen Mississippi.
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