Bonnet Carré Crevasse

Content sourced from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.

Bonnet Carré Crevasse was a major flood breach in 1871 in the Bonnet Carré area, about 31 miles from New Orleans, Louisiana. Excess water from the Mississippi River flowed over the east bank levee, which stood more than 12 feet high, creating a crevasse about 1,200 feet long. The floodwater rushed in at roughly 8 miles per hour and the breach widened each day as drainage couldn't keep up. Strong northerly winds pushed water from Lake Pontchartrain into eastern neighborhoods like Metairie and Gentilly, and a nearby levee also broke. While the flood caused great destruction, it also carried sediment that helped protect surrounding lands from total flooding and erosion. Seeing these benefits, officials built an artificial crevasse that could be opened to drain excess river water into Lake Pontchartrain. The river levee at Bonnet Carré was rebuilt in 1883, and today the area is the site of the Bonnet Carré Spillway.