Gov. John Bel Edwards says more than 10,000 people are in shelters and more than 20,000 people have been rescued across south Louisiana because of widespread flooding. At least four people have died from the storms.
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“This is an ongoing event”.
The Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries alone rescued more than 2,300 people and about 465 animals, authorities said Sunday.
The flooding began Friday when 6 to 10 inches of rain soaked parts of the state with additional rain dumped on certain areas Saturday. Amtrak trains are also deterring from their normal services and busing customers from Jackson, Mississippi to New Orleans, Louisiana. “Water continues to rise in many areas”.
“This is the worst it’s been, ever, ” Mr Mitchell said. “We tried to wait it out, but we had to get out”.
“I had my family, and we were able to help some people”.
“This is a serious event”, Mr Edwards said of the record floods he called “historic” on Saturday.
The latest casualty of the flooding was a 59-year-old man who was suddenly carried away by a powerful current while walking along a road in Tangipahoa City.
“Snakes were everywhere”, she told Associated Press.
He ducked under the water to reach into the auto.
“I just kept picking and hitting and prying until I could get a hole big enough”, the slightly-built, 115-pound woman said. “The good news is it’s not as heavy as when it was over central and southeastern Louisiana”.
“That’s never happened before”, he said.
The coroner in East Baton Rouge Parish identified another flood victim as William “Beau” Clark, a 68-year old man who drowned near Baker. One of the weekend’s fatalities occurred when a truck attempted to drive through a flooded state highway in St. Helena Parish. His name has not been released, but he’s believed to be from the area. Three people are dead and one is missing.
A state of emergency has been issued after historic flooding ripped southern parts of the state and volunteers from the Red Cross in Georgia are stepping in to help offer assistance. Thousands of motorists were stranded by floodwaters overnight, with officials distributing emergency supplies by helicopter to 1,500 motorists on I-12.
Louisiana State Police Colonel Michael Edmonson reported that rescue helicopters were not just used for rescuing people from flooded homes, but also for transporting water and food to residents. Meteorologist Mike Shields in the weather service’s Slidell office said one of their weather observers reported 17.09 inches in Livingston.
Rainstorms contributed to record floods along local rivers, with the Amite River expected to exceed its previous high by six feet in the town of Magnolia, according to the Weather Channel.
In southwest MS, rescues occurred in Amite and Wilkinson counties.
But many across the state saw homes and businesses devastated by the flooding, which submerged entire neighborhoods. He said another stepson who lives nearby alerted him.
“I woke up about 7:30 this morning and the water was half way up my yard”, he said. “It came up to my waist”. There were not enough beds to house all of the shelter-seekers, so many had to sleep on floors. Several more inches fell Saturday, according to the National Weather Service.
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Flynn said there are 67 people in the shelter opened in Natchez on Saturday.
