A second towboat capsized and sank during floods on the Lower Mississippi, although this time the crew was rescued by another towboat. Four days earlier, in the first sinking, one crewman was rescued but two others were not found after a 43-hour search.
The second boat, the 59-foot-long Vincent J Eymard, capsized near mile marker 175 in a rural area near the town of Donaldson, Louisiana. It was pulling an empty barge at the time. The crew was picked up by another towing vessel, the Ellysa. No one was injured, and the Ellysa took the barge under tow. The Vincent J Eymard had 3,000 gallons of diesel fuel when it sank. The Coast Guard closed four miles of the river for 12 hours. In the first accident, the Natalie Jean, a 64-foot-long towboat, capsized and sank near New Orleans, resulting in the death of two crew members.
The picture above shows the Carrollton Gage in New Orleans near the flood stage of 17 feet. The National Weather Service predicts that the river will crest at 16.6 feet. Read more:
http://www.theadvocate.com/baton_rouge/news/article_a814edfa-2a00-11e8-8a1f-df6298b49d50.html
