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Louisiana floods leave 11 dead, 40000 homes damaged

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.

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Obama, now on vacation with his family in Martha’s Vineyard, Mass., hasn’t spoken publicly about the deadly flood that has led to federal disaster declarations in 20 parishes. The flooding prompted U.S. President Barack Obama to issue a disaster declaration.

There were reports of looting in areas where homes and businesses were abandoned by fleeing residents. At least 13 people have died because of the flooding.

Louisiana has been declared a major disaster area.

FEMA Administrator Craig Fugate visited Louisiana on Wednesday, followed by Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson on Thursday.

Homes are seen after flooding, August 16, 2016, in Gonzales, Louisiana.

Officials painted a stark picture of the crisis: at least 40,000 homes damaged and 11 people killed in some of the worst flooding in Louisiana history. The parish is one of several approved for federal assistance.

They took refuge at her parents’ house in Livingston.

A flood damaged tomb is covered for fix at the cemetery of Greater St. Mark Baptist Church in Walker, Louisiana.

An additional evacuation recommendation was made in Vermilion Parish.

People now are staying in shelters, bunking with friends or relatives or sleeping in trailers on their front lawns.

Floodwaters appeared to be receding in some areas, but were flowing into others.

Joseph Bruno, a New Orleans lawyer who is a veteran of the Katrina insurance wars, fears the greatest needs could be borne by elderly residents who paid off their homes and weren’t required by their bank to carry flood insurance.

But farther south, including lower Ascension Parish, water continued to rise in some neighborhoods.

Volunteers pull a boat with a woman and young child as they evacuate from their homes in Baton Rouge.

“The storm deposited 10 inches of rain or more on eight states with up to 23 inches in MS and 31 inches in Louisiana”, AccuWeather Meteorologist Jesse Ferrell said.

Emergency crews had already plucked more than 20,000 people and 1,000 pets from flooded areas after a storm that broke records for 24-hour rainfall in multiple locations, Gov. John Bel Edwards told reporters.

The United Way of Southeast Louisiana is also accepting monetary donations on its website: www.unitedwaysela.org. His office later increased that figure to more than 30,000. His parents evacuated to his grandparents’ house in Baton Rouge, but that area started taking on water so they evacuated again to a hotel in Baton Rouge. She doesn’t know how many more nights they will be sleeping on cots inside the downtown arena where hundreds sought shelter.

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While the Olympics has taken the spotlight of events now happening in the world, in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, 40,000 homes are impacted by deadly floods, and residents are left nowhere near their television sets to watch the sporting event.

A SUNDAY AUG. 14 2016