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Summary The American Red Cross is already readying shelters for thousands of expected evacuees.
US authorities were preparing on Saturday to open up a major floodgate to ease pressure from the swollen Mississippi River hoping to save urban centres from historic flooding as rising waters swept south.Louisianas Morganza Spillway could be opened to stop flood waters from washing into major cities, the US army corps of engineers said, aiming to ease the Mississippis flow as it heads for the Gulf of Mexico.Opening the spillway would see waters gush over thousand of hectares of farmland and rural towns, prompting warnings of flash floods from forecasters and urgent evacuation orders in Louisiana and Mississippi.The Mississippi is the third-longest river in North America and its watershed is the fourth-largest in the world, according to the US National Park Service.The worst floods to hit the central United States in more than 70 years have already swallowed up thousands of homes, farms and roads in Illinois, Missouri, Kentucky, Tennessee and Mississippi.
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