Drinking from 14 states on its way to the Gulf of Mexico, the Mississippi River is currently spilling over its banks at the Bonnet Carre' Spillway. The normal bank is the tree line. With so much snow, ice and rain in the northern states the Spillway may have to be opened to prevent flooding in the City of New Orleans.
The Spillway was built for the precise purpose of protecting New Orleans from River flooding and it has never failed.