More than 20,000 people have been rescued or evacuated so far while 40,000 homes have been impacted, officials said. Floodwaters were receding in many parts of south Louisiana on Tuesday, though they were continuing to rise in other areas as the water drained south.
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The National Weather Service has issued renewed flood warnings after heavy rains began on Friday with a 15 to 25cm downpour falling on parts of southeast Louisiana. Edwards said more than 40,000 homes were damaged, although numbers reported from local officials indicated that estimate could be low.
People in numerous areas that remain underwater weren’t considered in a high-risk flooding area and weren’t required to carry flood insurance by mortgage lenders.
The National Weather Service said a new summer weather pattern is expected to drop as much as 2 more inches of rain over the southern half of the state through Friday.
A flood that has left 11 dead and 10,000 people in shelters has caused caskets to be displaced from their burial grounds, WPXI reports.
These Bossier teams continue to rescue people who have been trapped by the flooding and are providing assistance where they are needed.
“I’m very proud of the effort that we’re making”, he said at a press conference Tuesday, CBS reports.
Louisiana will mark the 11th anniversary later 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.
They completed an evacuation of flood victims in a Baton Rouge subdivision Saturday evening, and around midnight, they were deployed to a nursing home to rescue patients trapped there by rising flood waters.
Many municipalities implemented evening curfews to combat the problem, and to allow rescue crews to move freely at night.
Officials from Livingston Parish were in Baton Rouge on Tuesday to talk to federal officials about getting temporary housing for their first responders – a sign of the housing crunch likely to come with so many people out of their homes for weeks and perhaps months.
“We’re going to have thousands of people coming in”, Pannett said. Both Matthew 25 Ministries and the local chapter of the Red Cross are loading up supplies to help those in need. “I’m going to Baton Rouge after that, I don’t know”.
The volunteer rescuers have been dubbed the “Cajun Navy”.
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 two men in their 20s had travelled 20 miles (32 kilometres) southeast to the hard-hit town of Gonzales, where they were using their private boat to help residents evacuate.
Vast swathes of southern Louisiana remained under water – several feet deep in many places – inundating homes, businesses, and cars.
East Baton Rouge Parish Sheriff’s Office detained another group accused of taking $750 worth of merchandise from a Dollar General store. “Now we will care for you”. Edwards has asked for volunteers to help clear mud from houses.
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“What you’re seeing now is tremendous community spirit”, he added.
