It seems that river wants to meander. When man tries to change what God has created and then builds cities relying on “man’s power” to control things, man will lose every time. If God wants the Atchafalaya channel to take in the Mississippi and destroy Morgan City, so it will be. We can only watch in wonder at his power and praise him for his creation.
Look at the circuitous path the river takes starting roughly at Prairie du Chien, WI and due southward to Burlington, IA. Something has prevented the river from taking a more due south course which I suspect are the high bluffs in the area, could be wrong.
It does meander for sure, further south but still considerably upstream from LA, it really meanders in tight switchbacks.
As to God, I don't disagree; however He set into motion the laws of nature that cause rivers and bodies of water to behave as they do. Great thread.