READ THE WORDS “FLOODED FRIES” on a restaurant menu, and what comes to mind? An image of soupy cheese drowning a plate of fried potatoes? Skinny tater tots topped with sausage gravy?

At the Spillway Café in Morganza, Louisiana, the “Flooded Fries” are named for actual flooding—specifically, the trillions of gallons of dirty Mississippi River water pressing against a nearby flood-control levee called the Morganza Spillway, ready to drown acres and acres of farmland.

“The scarier it gets, the more people come,” says Traci Ewing, owner of the Spillway Café (attached to a La Express gas station) and one of about 600 Morganza residents. “We drive over the spillway every single day. It’s not that big of a deal to us, but it does seem to draw tourists … We don’t really understand it, but we embrace it.” CLICK HERE to read the rest of this piece at ATLAS OBSCURA…