As southeast Wyoming residents endured a flash flood watch Wednesday from the National Weather Service, another area in the U.S. also prepared to deal with rising water levels. The Mississippi River, already at record levels, was set to crest in Vicksburg, Miss. on Thursday morning.

The river was at 57.2 feet in Vicksburg on Wednesday morning, a level well above the previous record of 56.2 feet set on May 4, 1927, according to the National Weather Service. The river was expected to reach 57.5 feet on Thursday morning, about 14.5 feet over flooding stage.

Residents of Natchez, where the recent flooding broke a record set in 1937, were also anxiously watching the river on Wednesday. The Mississippi was expected to crest at 63 feet on Saturday, about 5 feet over the record, according to the NWS.

Major flooding levels were also reached in Greenville, Miss. and Arkansas City, where the river already crested at 64 and 52.8 feet, respectively.

In Louisiana,the Morganza Spillway was opened for the first time in decades over the weekend to intentionally flood 4,600 square miles of rural Louisiana in an effort to protect Baton Route and New Orleans.

The river began swelling in April, and since has caused flooding in Illinois, Missouri, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Mississippi and Louisiana. The flooding caused President Barack Obama to declare federal disaster areas in the western counties of Kentucky, Tennessee and Mississippi.

Across Wyoming, the snowpack is at 174 percent of average and levels in the Snowy Range have reached 193% of normal. The city of Laramie outlined their preparations for the snow melt on laramielive.com.

Check out images of the Mississippi River flooding below. Click the caption tab on each image to learn more about the shot.


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