Cesar Castellanos, the popular mayor of Tegucigalpa, the Honduran capital, gave warning that a temporary lake formed above the city by debris in the Choluteca river might flood the city centre.

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The National Guard worked around the clock to construct a flood barrier in Morgan City, Louisiana, where the Atchafalaya River was already 3.15 feet above flood stage, according to the National Weather Service.

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The flood defence scheme, named Our City Our River, is aimed at protecting the area which last experienced serious floods in 2007.

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The houses, which were purchased by the city and must be moved away from the flood-prone Red River of the North or a creek that flows into it, are so large they can't be hauled to higher ground without being cut into pieces.

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Many of the city's current flood defences are about 50-years-old after being built in response to the River Exe bursting its banks in October 1960.

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