News Release Manager

Corps of Engineers activates additional Phase II flood fight efforts in areas south of Memphis

Published March 1, 2019

MEMPHIS, Tenn., March 1, 2019 – The Memphis District, U. S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) is currently in a Phase II flood fight on the Mississippi River in the Helena area in Arkansas and the Clarksdale area in Mississippi.

Communities protected by the levees in the Helena and Clarksdale flood fight areas include the casinos near Tunica, the towns of Clarksdale in Mississippi, and Lake View, Elaine, and Mellwood in Arkansas, as well as several hundred thousand acres of fertile farmland in parts of Arkansas, Mississippi, and Tennessee.

USACE employees will be patrolling and monitoring government flood risk reduction works along 94 miles of federal levee systems in the Clarksdale area that provide flood protection for several counties in North Mississippi including Desoto County, Tunica County, and Coahoma County, as well as 116 miles of federal levee systems in the Helena area providing flood protection from the Mississippi River and White River for Phillips and Desha Counties in Arkansas.

The 2019 flood fight in the Memphis District is more manageable because of improvements made with federal funding as well as flood risk management efforts implemented by state and local communities and flood management officials since the 2011 flood events.

Memphis District divides their area of responsibility into 10 floodfight areas, eight of which are currently at a Phase II level of response. 

About 100 USACE employees are engaged in this floodfight event, coming from Memphis and other Districts primarily along the Mississippi River Valley.  They are all working to provide technical assistance and supplies to support state and local flood management efforts.

The Corps will remain vigilant throughout this high-water event with its local and state partners.

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Contact
Jim Pogue
901-544-4109
901-828-0152 (cell)
mailto:james.t.pogue@usace.army.mil
or
Ken Williams
901-544-3360
mailto:kenneth.williams@usace.army.mil

Release no. UNRELEASED