Marc Jacobs Bags Outlet floodwater into Lake Pontchartrain

Reporting from Memphis, Tenn.—

After hitting nearly 48 feet and sending water to the edge of downtown and through some low-lying areas, the Mississippi

Marc Jacobs Bags Outlet

River peaked Tuesday without swamping Memphis, but officials warned that it was too early to exhale and said the river would be high for weeks.

Downstream, fear of major inundations grew as the river rumbled south through Mississippi and Louisiana, swollen by unusually heavy rains and runoff from melting winter snows to the north. The   Corps of Engineers opened 44 more gates to the Bonnet Carre Spillway in Norco, La., diverting floodwater into Lake Pontchartrain. The spillway was opened Monday for the first time since 1973.

The possible opening of the Morganza Spillway, north of Baton Rouge, spurred the lower Atchafalaya Basin to brace for up to 25 feet of water in some areas. Opening the spillway would reduce the likelihood of flooding in more populated cities like

Louisiana Gov. said a decision on whether to open the floodgates would probably not be made until Saturday, when the water is expected to reach the "trigger point" of 1.5 million cubic feet per second at a gauge north of Baton Rouge.