MS and Alabama were also struggling with heavy rainfall.
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It was one of thousands of rescues after a deluge dropped more than a foot of rain on parts of southeast Louisiana, submerging roads, cars and homes. Searchers continued to look for a man reported missing near Highway 10 in Darlington, the sheriff’s office said.
Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwards declared a state of emergency on Friday.
The rising waterways in southeast Louisiana and southern MS has shut down roads, cutting off at least one town as an area of low pressure slowly moved west along the Gulf Coast.
Temperatures would be 5 to 15 degrees above average on Sunday across much of the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast, the National Weather Service said. Records were handily broken throughout the state in what Edwards called a “truly historic” weather event.
Some rainfall totals have exceeded 20 inches.
“This is a major disaster”, the governor said.
“This is an ongoing event”.
The heavy rain will continue over Louisiana and MS through at least Saturday morning, said weather.com meteorologist Tom Moore.
The National Weather Service told the New Orleans Times-Picayune another four to eight inches were expected. Casey Rayborn Hicks identified the victim as 68-year-old William Mayfield. Fifteen miles south of the MS border, the body of a 50-something man was found Friday evening in a submerged pickup on Louisiana Highway 10.
Several residents said it’s the worst flooding they’ve seen in their life.
He and his family were relocated after water flooded their basement. “We haven’t forgotten about you and we’re coming for you”. “We’ve never seen anything like this before”.
In a 24-hour period, Baton Rouge reported as much as 11.34 inches of rain fell compared with 2.34 inches at New Orleans’ global airport in Kenner. Many residents were caught off guard by how quickly the water rose. Heavy downpours pounded parts of the central U.S. Gulf Coast on Friday, forcing the rescue of doze.
Tolliver said Saturday the water has started to recede and those living in Crosby will be allowed back in by Sunday to assess the damage.
He said some people with a boat helped to find the pickup and would continue searching for the possible second vehicle through the night. “We’ve been rescuing subdivisions”, he said. “I felt like we were in an aquarium”.
A member of the St. George Fire Department assists residents as they wade through floodwaters from heavy rains in the Chateau Wein Apartments in Baton Rouge, La., Friday, Aug. 12, 2016. She says snakes were everywhere. They headed for the truck. “We tried to wait it out, but we had to get out”.
“Excessive runoff from heavy rainfall will cause flooding of small creeks and streams”, the Lake Charles office said. About 1,000 soldiers are on the ground, with as many as 250 more coming by the end of Saturday.
“Even for them it’s very unusual”, Roth said.
The governor said that because they’re record floods, it’s unknown how wide the water is going to get with the slow-moving, low-pressure system.
The state of emergency will remain in effect until September 10, the executive proclamation reads.
Flooding plagued this area in January and March of this year, as well. Three died as a result. Doug Cain from the Louisiana State Police said about 125 vehicles were stranded on a seven-mile stretch of Interstate 12 near Baton Rouge and the occupants were being taken to safety. The Denham Springs resident said her entire family has been affected by the flooding.
“If you’ve been advised to evacuate, you need to do that”, Gov. Edwards noted.
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“After Hurricane Katrina, I didn’t understand why people didn’t leave before it flooded. It happens so fast”, she said. But I get it now. “We were fine at 6:30 when we woke up this morning”.
