A street sign stands in the rising water of the rising Atchafalaya River on May 16, 2011 in Simmesport, Louisiana. The Morganza Spillway floodgates were opened for the first time in nearly forty years to lower the crest of the flooding Mississippi River. Heavy rains have left the ground saturated, rivers swollen, and have caused widespread flooding in Louisiana. Mississippi, Missouri, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, and Arkansas. (Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images)