Rain continued to fall over parts of Louisiana on Tuesday, adding to the devastation of days of flooding in towns and parishes across the state.
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Rain-swollen rivers are receding in much of the state, but some communities in southern Louisiana are bracing for waters that have not yet crested, according to national forecasters.
As many as 30,000 people have been rescued following unprecedented floods in the southern U.S. state of Louisiana, including a 78-year-old woman who spent a night stranded in a tree, police said late Monday. Edwards said more than 40,000 homes were damaged, although numbers reported from local officials indicated that estimate could be low.
And approximately 40,000 homes have been either destroyed or damaged by the flood waters.
Louisiana will mark the 11th anniversary this month of Hurricane Katrina, which killed more than 1,800 people when floods overwhelmed levees and broke through flood walls protecting New Orleans on August 29, 2005. “We have greatly benefited from their expertise in the logistics of moving things all around the world and we really appreciate everything the National Guard has done”. Over 30,000 people have been rescued since Friday, with more being brought to safety by the hour…
A vehicle is seen after flooding in Gonzales, Louisiana.
Raymond Lieteau, 48, returned to his home in the Woodlands neighborhood of Baton Rouge to survey the damage Tuesday and begin cleaning up.
More than 1,000 pets have been rescued so far and emergency crews are searching for more.
The Coast Guard said it had rescued more than 118 people and assisted more than 766 in Baton Rouge Sunday.
Edwards said there were still some 34,000 households and businesses without electricity in torrid summer heat and humidity – raising concerns of mould in waterlogged buildings.
“I don’t know we have a good handle on the number of people who are missing”, the governor said.
“I’d never thought I’d be going through something like this again”, said Airman First Class Jeremy Creer from New Orleans, with the 159th CES Civil Air Squadron.
“I don’t have flood insurance so everything is gone”, he said.
“We are going to have to search and mark each of those cars”, the governor said.
A large number of volunteers, dubbed the “Cajun Navy”, are assisting with rescues with their own boats and canoes.
Among them were John Booth and Austin Tupper of Baton Rouge.
Gonzales flooded only in the last 24 hours, as waters drained south.
Some areas have received more than 50cm of rain since late Thursday, submerging vast swathes of southern Louisiana in muddy waters.
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But even as the water receded in some areas, it was rising in other places downstream, sending people fleeing to shelters. After getting ferried away on a boat, she said, they walked on a flooded interstate in hopes of finding drier ground. He asked for volunteers to help clean out mud from homes.
