Mississippi River Flooding – Louisiana And Mississippi Underwater In Pictures

The floodgate at the Morganza Spillway in Morganza, Louisiana, was opened on Saturday, May 14, 2011.

Please click here for ‘Floodgate At The Morganza Spillway Is Now Opened – Pictures’

Water from the Mississippi River rushes out of open bays on the Morganza Spillway and into a pasture in Morganza, La., Monday, May 16, 2011. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)

Water from the Mississippi River rushes out of open bays on the Morganza Spillway in Morganza, La., Monday, May 16, 2011. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)

After 3 days, the water from the flooded Mississippi River has reached places like Butte LaRose and St. Landry Parish at the northern end of the basin, putting some houses underwater.

Towns and crop lands along the Atchafalaya River basin that are in the path of the diverted flood waters could be flooded as high as 20 feet in coming days.

On Tuesday, the Coast Guard closed a 15-mile stretch of the Mississippi River at Natchez, Mississippi, north of New Orleans.

Vessels were blocked from heading toward the Gulf of Mexico and from returning north after dropping off their freight.

These barges carry corn, wheat, soybean and others from the Midwest to ports near New Orleans, where they get loaded onto huge grain carriers to be exported around the world.

 Below are photos of the flooding along the Mississippi River.

Water rushes over dirt roads inside the Morganza Floodway as water from the flowing floodway heads south near Krotz Springs, Louisiana, May 17, 2011. (REUTERS/Sean Gardner) 

Farmers work as floodwaters from the Mississippi river creep across their fields in Natchez, Miss., Tuesday, May 17, 2011. The Coast Guard said it closed the Mississippi River at the port in Natchez, Miss., on Tuesday because barge traffic could increase pressure on the levees. Heavy flooding from Mississippi tributaries has displaced more than 4,000 in the state, about half of them upstream from Natchez in the Vicksburg area. (AP Photo/Dave Martin)

Floodwaters from the Mississippi River have closed Highway 61 north of Vicksburg, Miss., Tuesday, May 17, 2011. (AP Photo/Dave Martin)

Farmers work as floodwaters from the Mississippi river creep across their fields in Natchez, Miss., Tuesday, May 17, 2011. (AP Photo/Dave Martin)

Flood waters from the Mississippi River creep inland across a field of soybeans in Natchez, Miss., Tuesday, May 17, 2011. The Coast Guard closed the swollen Mississippi River north of New Orleans, halting cargo vessels on the nation's busiest waterway in the latest effort to reduce pressure from rising flood waters. (AP Photo/Dave Martin)

Barges operate along the flooded Mississippi River near Vicksburg, Miss., Tuesday, May 17, 2011. (AP Photo/Dave Martin)

Farmers work as flood waters from the Mississippi river creep across their fields in Natchez, Miss., Tuesday, May 17, 2011. (AP Photo/Dave Martin)

Farmers work as flood waters from the Mississippi river creep across their fields in Natchez, Miss., Tuesday, May 17, 2011. (AP Photo/Dave Martin)

Flood waters from the Mississippi River have closed Highway 61 north of Natchez, Miss., Tuesday, May 17, 2011. (AP Photo/Dave Martin)

The runway at the airport in Vicksburg, Miss., is surrounded by Mississippi river flood waters Tuesday, May 17, 2011. (AP Photo/Dave Martin)

Flooded homes, including one surrounded by a makeshift levee that failed, top, are seen in Vicksburg, Miss., Tuesday, May 17, 2011. (AP Photo/Dave Martin)

Floodwaters surround the Yazoo and Mississippi Valley Railroad Station just outside a protective floodwall in Vicksburg, Miss., Tuesday, May 17, 2011. (AP Photo/Dave Martin)

A business outside the levee south of Vicksburg, Miss., is surrounded by Mississippi river flood waters Tuesday, May 17, 2011. (AP Photo/Dave Martin)

Flooded crops in Vicksburg, Miss., are pictured Tuesday, May 17, 2011. (AP Photo/Dave Martin)

A crane flies over a street sign near a rule measuring the height of the flood waters in feet, in St. Francisville, Louisiana May 17, 2011.(REUTERS/Sean Gardner)