in VOA Special English.The Mississippi Riverflows down the middleof the United Statesto the Gulf of Mexico.Right now, melted snowand heavy rainsfrom the northare moving south.The result has beenwhat some peopleare calling the worst floodingin eighty years in statesalong the Mississippi.In Louisiana, engineersare working to keep floodwatersaway from two big cities-- New Orleans and Baton Rouge.New Orleans is still recoveringfrom the failureof its flood controlsduring Hurricane Katrinain two thousand five.A plan to direct someof the waterinto the Morganza Spillwaymeans flooding rich farmlandsin another part of the state.As many as twenty-five thousandpeople may have to leaveareas that would be flooded.Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindalhas been urging themto prepare to leave.The Morganza Spillwayis about seventy-five kilometersupriver from Baton Rouge,the state capital.The spillway is a thirty-two-kilometer-long channelthat can take watersfrom the Mississippito another river system.The spillway was usedonly once before,in nineteen seventy-three.Last week, the Army Corpsof Engineers explodeda three-kilometer-wide holealong an earthen levee in Missouri.They did that to protectriver towns in two other states,Kentucky and Illinois.But fifty-two thousandhectares of farmlandwere flooded as a result.The American insurance industry saysnatural disasters have alreadycaused five billion dollarsin damage this year.A record numberof tornadoes struckalong a pathfrom Texas to Georgia.The storms killed more thantwo hundred people in six states.At the same time, states likeTexas and Oklahomaare experiencingextremely dry weatherand high windsthat have caused wildfires.President Obama plansto inspect the flooding on Monday.He will visit Memphis, Tennessee,where the Mississippi Riverreached nearly record levelsearlier this week.The river has been setting recordsin places like Vicksburgin the state of Mississippi.But experts say the situationwould have been far worseif not for the levees,spillways and other flood controlsbuilt along the river.These have been builtsince nineteen twenty-seven,when flooding killed more thanone thousand people.In North Vicksburg, friendsand family members have beenhelping Joann Parks prepare to leave.JOANN PARKS: "It is justa lot of thingsthat have got to go.Some of the things have got to go,some of the thing I don't knowwhere we are going to store it.It's just hard, I know there isa lot of things we are notgoing to be able to save."Vicksburg lies where the Mississippiand Yazoo Rivers meet.There was an important battlethere in eighteen sixty-threeduring the Civil War-- which still makesit a popular stop for visitors.The waters at Vicksburgare expected to reachtheir highest levels-- seventeen and a half meters– sometime next week.Officials say one thousand homesin the area could be flooded.Seventy-year-old Winston Holmanhas lived in Vicksburg all his life.WINSTON HOLMAN: "I have never seenthe river as high asit is right now.And I hope I never see itget this high again.Because, it is hurtinga lot of folks around hereand a lot of businesses."And that's IN THE NEWSin VOA Special English.To see pictures of the flooding,go to 51voa.com.