Red River expected to flood by June

Red River will spill over its banks, according to a hydrologist at the National Weather Service in Shreveport.

Red River is 29.2 feet over its bank and will be in flood stage at 30 feet, hydrologist C.S. Ross said.

"The Red River's high, but it's not at flood stage," Ross said. "That's going to change the first week of June."

That's putting flooding at the top of Butch Ford's mind.

The Bossier Parish engineer first heard projections about the first week of June last week, and a multi-agency meeting with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers put them into action. Since they've been handing out sand bags to residents (though too few took advantage because the weekend weather was sunny, Ford said) and stockpiling them at key locations.

Caddo authorities are also dispensing bags.

There's another meeting Wednesday to reassess and plan following the rain dumped on Oklahoma and Texas Monday night.

Learn more about the flooding in Oklahoma and Texas.

"We're not going to be out of the woods until the river is down," Ford said.

Once flooding occurs, Ross said backwater will come up on both Clyde Fant Memorial Parkway and Arthur Ray Teague Parkway, the swampy area between Hearne Avenue and Russell Road up to the Cross Lake dam and the northbound lane of Interstate 220 at Market Street.

"At its peak the crest will be raised to 33 feet," Ross said. "This will be the highest the river has been since the 34.5-foot crest from May of 1990."

However, this flooding will not occur solely from the excess rainfall in Northwest Louisiana.

The devastating amounts of rain that have flooded central Texas, which left two dead and 30 unaccounted for in Hays County, are part of the reason for the high levels of Red River. Cross Bayou, which meets with the Red River just north of downtown Shreveport, controls all the flow from the Cypress Basin of east Texas, said Ross.

"Cypress Basin includes Caddo Lake, Cross Lake, Lake O' the Pines and Lake Bob Sandlin," Ross said. "Water from the basin flows into the Red from Twelve Mile Bayou, McCain Creek and Cross Bayou."

So, while the amount of water coming in to the Red can be controlled by reservoirs such as Millwood Lake on Little River and Lake Wright Patman from the Sulphur River, there is no way to regulate how much water is coming in from the Cypress Basin.

According to Ross, flooding is expected to last through June and possibly into July. River navigation could be closed through mid-June as a result.

Check out where the river is now and its hydrologic forecast.

— Adam Duvernay contributed to this article