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Governor issues state of emergency for Louisiana after severe flooding

His name has not been released, but Browning says he’s believed to be from the area.

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In Crosby, Mississippi, more than 50 people flooded out of a neighbourhood will be housed at a shelter in Natchez.

Wilkinson County Chancery Clerk Thomas Tolliver says an apartment complex and surrounding houses in the town were heavily flooded by deluging rains falling over southern MS and southeast Louisiana.

A 68-year-old man drowned near Zachary, about 15 miles north of Baton Rouge, according to the emergency management director in East Baton Rouge Parish, JoAnne Moreau.

Amtrak halted a southbound train from Chicago en route to New Orleans due to water on the tracks near Osyka, Mississippi.

Leroy Hansford, his wife and stepson were among those rescued near Gloster.

Officials in St. Charles Parish declared a state of emergency. Others have been flooded to the west in Wilkinson County.

Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards has declared a state of emergency as rescue workers in the southeastern part of the state brace for more precipitation.

In Mobile, several drivers became stranded when their vehicles flooded out in the high waters.

In Baker, just north of Baton Rouge, residents said they had to be rescued by boats or wade though waist-deep, snake-infested water to reach dry ground.

Heavy rains drenched parts of southeast Louisiana and southern Mississippi Friday, causing unsafe floods that killed at least two people, cut off an entire town, shut down highways and prompted numerous rescues.

The Comite River near Baton Rouge and Amite River near Denham Springs, both in Louisiana, were predicted to set record crests over the weekend.

“It’s real bad”, Martin said of the flooding.

The Tickfaw River, just south of the MS state line in Liverpool, Louisiana, was already at the highest level ever recorded.

More rain fell Friday, but Johnson said those rainfall totals weren’t available Saturday morning.

“It’s going to be a hard next couple of days”, she said.

Schools across the region have been closed.

This is third weather event to hit Louisiana and it’s affecting Interstate 55 to the Texas border.

Heavy rain is expected to continue Friday and begin tapering off early Saturday.

As of Friday, authorities in Tangipahoa Parish had rescued 72 people and several pets, according to The Associated Press.

Shelters have been opened for those fleeing their homes. Residents will be allowed to return home once the water starts to recede.

The same system affecting parts of Louisiana and MS also dumped heavy rainfall on coastal Alabama this week. Everyone else needs to stay at home and off the roads, Edwards said.

In a 24-hour period, Baton Rouge reported as much as 11.34 inches of rain compared with 2.34 inches at New Orleans’ global airport in Kenner.

Heavy rain and street flooding have prompted five school districts in southeast Louisiana to cancel classes.

And officials recovered the body of a man who was in a Chevy pickup truck that was swept off Louisiana State Highway 10 in St. Helena Parish by raging water, the St. Helena Sheriff’s Office said.

A flood watch for southwest Louisiana is in effect until Sunday afternoon.

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A National Weather Service volunteer measured 17.09 inches of rain in Livingston, Louisiana since midnight – making the deluge a 1-in-1000-year rainfall for that location.

Heavy Rain Triggers Flash Flood Emergencies, Water Rescues in Mississippi, Louisiana