A flooded structure and telephone poles are seen along the Mississippi River downstream from Natchez, May 20, 2011 in Wilkinson County, Mississippi. The river is forecast to crest at 62.1 feet - the highest level in Natchez's recorded history. Heavy rains have left the ground saturated, rivers swollen, and have caused widespread flooding in Louisiana. Mississippi, Missouri, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, and Arkansas.
A disused railroad bridge crossing Thompson Creek, near St. Francisville, Louisiana, where backwater flooding from the swollen Mississippi has pushed water levels in surrounding creeks and bayous as high as twenty feet above normal.
Flooded bottomland between St. Francisville and the river where, in the late 18th century, a town named Bayou Sara flourished. Once the third busiest port on the lower Mississippi after New Orleans and Natchez, Bayou Sara eventually succumbed to the river's repeated floodings. This spring, it's easy to see why.
Landon Bonaventure, 5, walks to the edge of water from the Mississippi River that flooded a dozen homes and businesses in St. Francisville, La., Thursday, May 19, 2011.
A school bus stop sign is nearly submerged in a Vicksburg, Miss., neighborhood Saturday, May 21, 2011. The Mississippi River is coming down inch by inch, raising the hopes of flood-weary residents that the waters will soon subside and they can return to their homes.
Ethan Lee, 4, walks on a plank at the house of his grandparents, Fred and Hilda Smith, as encroaching floodwater from the Mississippi River that flooded a dozen homes and businesses is seen in St. Francisville, La., Thursday.
Haley English, 7, cries in the arms of her mother, Naomi English, as she looks towards her submerged house in Vicksburg, Miss., Friday, May 20, 2011. The house has several feet of water inside and is surrounded by water and unapproachable for now. Officials believe the water levels will remain high for weeks, keeping those flooded-out residents from their homes and properties.
A row of flooded farm homes is pictured near Yazoo City, Miss., May 19, 2011.
In this aerial photo provide by the U.S. Coast Guard, water from the swollen Mississippi River flows through the Morganza spillway into the Atchafalaya Basin, Friday, May 20, 2010, over Morganza, La. The spillway was opened in an attempt to prevent cities further down the river from flooding and to ease pressure on the river's levee system.
Crops are seen inundated by floodwater from the Homochitto River in Doloroso, Miss., Friday, May 20, 2011.
A snake is seen swimming in floodwaters from the rising Mississippi River in St. Francisville, La., May 20, 2011.
A levee protects a home surrounded by floodwater from the Yazoo River May 18, 2011 near Vicksburg, Miss. The flooded Mississippi River is forcing the Yazoo River to top its banks where the two meet, causing towns and farms upstream on the Yazoo to flood.
A satellite dish is seen on the roof of the Oyster bar, submerged in floodwaters from the rising Mississippi River, in St. Francisville, La., May 20, 2011. Residents were leaving in the face of a mandatory evacuation order set to kick in on Saturday.
The historic Yazoo & Mississippi Valley Railroad Station is surrounded by floodwater May 18, 2011 in Vicksburg, Miss.
Floodwaters from the Yazoo river surround this farm house after its levee failed, near Yazoo City, Miss., May 19, 2011.
A doorway is seen in floodwaters from the rising Mississippi River in St. Francisville, La., Friday, May 20, 2011.
A farmhouse is protected by a small levee while another stands flooded near Yazoo City, Miss., Thursday, May 19, 2011. For thousands of people forced from their homes by the rising Mississippi River, life has become a tedious waiting game: Waiting for meals at shelters, waiting for the latest word on their flooded homes, waiting for the river to fall.
A shed and a house are submerged in Mississippi River floodwaters Thursday, May 19, 2011 in Grand Gulf, Miss.
A house is inundated May 19, 2011 in Grand Gulf, Miss.
Visitors from New Orleans gather together to dip their toes in the flooding Mississippi River on May 20, 2011 in Natchez, Mississippi.
A partially-submerged church sits in the flooding Mississippi River on May 19, 2011 in Vicksburg, Miss. The river crested at 57 feet in Vicksburg, the highest level in recorded history.
A temporary levee around this house in Vicksburg did not spare it from floodwaters.
An American flag hangs in the water at a flooded house along the Mississippi River on May 19, 2011 in Vicksburg, Mississippi.
The Comfort Suites - with makeshift levee protection - is seen on the Vidalia Waterfront along the flooding Mississippi River on May 20, 2011 in Vidalia, La.
City surveyor Tony Moon works on a makeshift levee on the edge of the flooding Mississippi River, with the temporarily-shuttered Isle of Capri riverboat casino behind him, May 20, 2011 in Natchez, Miss.
Workers build a 16-foot makeshift levee to protect the 100-year-old J.M. Jones Lumber Company on the edge of the flooding Mississippi River, May 20, 2011 in Natchez.
A fence column and street sign are seen in floodwaters from the rising Mississippi River in St. Francisville, La., where a dozen homes and businesses, and several camps, were flooded, May 20, 2011.
Tyler Clark, left, and his cousin Lance Kimble stand in high water with their dog Buster on the banks of the Atchafalaya River outside of the levee protection area in Simmesport, La., May 18, 2011.
A partially-submerged shed is seen in the flooding Atchafalaya River on May 18, 2011 in Simmesport, Louisiana.
Johnathan Bryant helps to remove debris from his grandparents' flood-damaged home as the water continues to recede May 20, 2011 near Finley, Tenn.