In the town of Vicksburg, the water was 17.3m deep, topping the previous record set in 1927.<br /><br />Further downstream, residents of low-lying rural areas in the state of Louisiana are preparing for the worst.<br /><br />The plan is to keep flood waters away from the cities of Baton Rouge and New Orleans.<br /><br />The US army corps of engineers has allowed the Mississippi to flood rural, less populated areas.<br /><br />Al Jazeera's John Terrett reports from Krotz Springs.
