If the Mississippi River gets above 40 feet on the Memphis river gauge , the Nonconnah , along with other local streams and rivers connected to the Mississippi , will begin to experience backwater flooding , which is when these streams begin to flow backwards as the Mississippi river rises and fills them . Backwater flooding occurred in both the 1927 and 1937 floods along the Mississippi River . In the 1940s , the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers built an earthen levee system with pumping stations along the northern side of Nonconnah Creek from its mouth to Prospect Street in South Memphis . During the 2011 Mississippi River floods , these levees kept water off of the northern side . However , backwater flooding occurred on the south side causing damage to several subdivisions . The creek also flowed backwards within its channel to the Lamar Avenue ( U.S. Route 78 ) overpass
2011 Mississippi River floods
2011 Mississippi River floods
Nonconnah Creek