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Crews work to prevent dam from bursting

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    Steve Harrigan reports from McComb, Mississippi

  • Duration 3:14
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And now to the most immediate danger for people in the southeast following -- it is from a dam on the border between Mississippi and Louisiana.

Crews pumping water tonight to keep the whole thing from bursting the dam sits at the southern end of a lake.

That's about 700 acres or one square -- it holds back enough water to fill about 4000 Olympic sized swimming pools.

And if that dam -- that water would come with eight.

Fury downriver potentially endangering tens of thousands of people from kit -- Louisiana all the way down the community of Robert you see it there on the map.

Officials say rain from Isaac caused the -- to swell and put too much pressure.

On that 2300 foot -- With the amount of trying that we -- further extended the length per ton.

The -- it calls a problem.

Crews have reduced the threat by releasing some of the water but no one knows for sure if that will be enough or if disaster is unstoppable.

Steve Harrigan live for some McComb Mississippi right now near that -- Steve what's the latest.

-- they're working around the clock here both the Army Corps of Engineers as wells emergency management teams.

-- to my side they have several pumps going trying to pump that water out night and day.

As wells build up the dirt there were some it slipped down this is an earthen dam.

About 2000 feet long and over on the other side of this 700 acre lake you have back -- going there trying to cut a slipped into that area.

The west of this -- the hope is to release some water gradually perhaps beginning as early as tomorrow afternoon.

Both -- states trying to reduce the pressure on this earth and dam it's been bulging and they are trying to prevent a complete collapse Harris.

Well we have waited for a couple of days to get a good vantage point of this because it kept on raining now we can fully see.

Where the problem is so what kind of -- facts are there efforts haven't.

Right now the water has receded about two and a half feet but most engineers say.

It's not really because of what they've done but because of mother nature.

Picking on the -- first 22 -- is right now.

That has been done the rain -- is not -- we don't have that much warmer flow coming down that way.

But people who live around this -- are hoping there won't be any more rain for a while but people here.

Fully aware of the fact that hurricane season has at least another solid month ago.

-- -- -- I'm curious about the evacuations because they had been moving people out of the way our people still in this area.

They have been going door to door it really depends on the situation there's very few passes in this area.

And it's really remarkable how Mississippi has performed.

Over the past five or six days a real contrast with Katrina Katrina 230 lives were lost seven years ago now in Mississippi.

Just one life lost through this hurricane in part.

It's due to different -- they have -- communicating in real time the governor.

Emergency workers really on top of things getting out the words people and people taking that word very seriously around this Dan Harris.

Well all that heartache seven years ago at least giving way to a lot of lessons that people have learned Steve Harrigan thank you very much.

Police say a man walked.

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