Thousands were hunkering down in shelters after waterways in the southern part of the USA state overflowed their banks following more than 20 inches (50 centimeters) of rain between Thursday and Saturday.
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Three people died in Tangipahoa Parish, two people died in St. Helena Parish, five people died in East Baton Rouge Parish and one person died in Rapides Parish.
While flooding receded in parts of southern Louisiana, other areas saw rising waters, and the National Weather Service issued renewed flood warnings.
In areas that have dried out, many residents began the recovery process.
(AP Photo/Max Becherer). David Key looks at the back yard of his flooded home in Prairieville, La., Tuesday, Aug. 16, 2016.
Many residents whose homes were damaged by the floods were not covered by national flood insurance, said Rafael Lemaitre, a FEMA public information officer. There were fish and thousands of spiders.
Now he has to rip out the drywall and insulation and de-humidify the house as fast as he can so the mold won’t spread.
At least 40,000 homes have been damaged and 11 people have been killed in the floods. Those parishes are mostly in south central Louisiana.
“We’ve been through Hurricane Gustav, Katrina, Isaac, and Rita, but this without a doubt is the roughest we’ve ever had in this parish”, said Livingston Parish Sheriff Jason Ard.
About 6.9 trillion gallons of rain pummeled Louisiana between August 8 and 14, according to meteorologist Ryan Maue.
Torrential rains have caused widespread flooding in parts of southern Louisiana.
The pictures and videos of flooded streets and homes are an all too familiar scene for Bossier Parish residents. About 138,000 people live in the parish. He didn’t know how many people that included but said it was less than 100.
The latest deaths were attributed to three accidental drownings.
In some areas, clean-up work was already beginning, with members of the Life Tabernacle Church in Baton Rouge dumping water-damaged pews on a growing pile of debris outside.
The American Red Cross launched a donation campaign for Louisiana flood victims, and deployed 67 emergency response vehicles, according to spokesman Patrick Pannett who was interviewed by local TV station WAFB.
The Edwards administration was anxious about cash flow problems even before the storms, because his predecessor and lawmakers heavily drained state treasury reserves to patch together prior year budgets. About 40,000 people had signed up for FEMA assistance and eight more parishes were added to the federal disaster declaration, bringing the total number to 12.
A dozen parishes – similar to counties in other states – have now been declared emergency disaster areas, up from four on Monday.
The eighth storm-related death was the accidental drowning of a 66-year-old man whose body was found in the Sherwood Forest area, which has been a site of severe flooding, state officials said.
The slow-moving, low-pressure system crawled into Texas, but the National Weather Service warned the danger of new flooding remained high due to the sheer volume of water flowing toward the Gulf of Mexico.
Rivers and creeks were still dangerously bloated in areas south of Baton Rouge as people filled sandbags there to protect their houses, bracing for the worst as the water worked its way south.
On Tuesday, floodwater inundated the small town of Sorrento in Ascension Parish, the parish sheriff’s office reported. Several arrests were made Monday, the Associated Press reported.
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Exxon spokesman Todd Spitler said the company doesn’t comment on specific unit operations and has continued to meet contractual commitments.
