Forecaster says ‘small floodwave’ doesn’t threaten Baton Rouge

High water in the Missouri and Ohio rivers is expected to raise the water level in Baton Rouge, but only slightly. “We do have a small floodwave coming down the river right now,” says David Reed, a hydrologist with the Lower Mississippi River Forecast Center. Reed says the Mississippi River is just under 33 feet at Baton Rouge now. It’s expected to drop to 31.5 or 32 feet before rising another foot or so, but currently it’s not expected to reach flood stage. Heavy rain in southern Illinois, Indiana and Ohio might be cause for concern, he says, but that would not be typical this time of year. “Unless we get really heavy rain, or a decaying tropical storm that causes heavy rain, I would expect the river at Baton Rouge to continue to go down after this minor rise,” Reed says. —David Jacobs