The numbers “were really shocking”, he said.
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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 their mortgage lenders.
“There was a part of the road where it could have gotten stalled, but I was able to get into the other lane to go around the water”.
“The fact that so many people in Louisiana have been forced out of their own homes this week is heartbreaking”, the 26-year-old said in a statement.
“Don’t get out and sightsee”, Edwards said.
“The area around Baton Rouge could see up to a half-inch of rain Monday, with a 40 to 50 per cent chance in the forecast”, Efferson said. “We are going to do everything humanly possible to render aid”.
As we reported earlier, floods have crippled Louisiana since Friday as a storm system dropped more than 2 feet of rain in some areas.
Most of the rivers have crested, but several are still rising.
Jared Serigne of St. Bernard Parish helped organize volunteer efforts involving roughly 70 experienced boaters who rescued hundreds of people from flooded communities such as Monticello, St. Amant and Port Vincent.
As of Sunday morning, some 5,050 people were staying in parish and Red Cross shelters, said Department of Children & Family Services Secretary Marketa Garner Walters.
Serigne said the volunteers have to navigate through unfamiliar neighborhoods. “The Red Cross is very proud of the partnerships we have with non-government organizations, as well as public agencies and things like that, but when it comes down to it, it’s people helping people at every level”.
Authorities worked throughout Sunday to rescue people from cars stranded on a miles-long stretch of Interstate 12 until the governor said on Twitter late in the day that everyone had been rescued.
From the air, homes looked more like little islands surrounded by flooded fields.
Vehicles that were out of gas, stalled or unclaimed were being towed Monday to the shoulder to help clear the interstate.
A local official says people need baby formula at a convention center that has turned into a shelter for about 600 people affected by the flooding in southern Louisiana.
“I can not stress to our residents enough the magnitude of this situation”, Meredith Conger, parish homeland security planning and intelligence officer, said in the statement Monday. That number could go as high as 10,000, he said, which would be about a quarter of the homes in the parish.
Meanwhile, Kailath says, forecasters predict more rain for some areas of Louisiana over the rest of the week.
While federal aid is available to those without insurance in the four parishes now declared major disaster areas, the total amount will be limited, according to Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards.
Officials are now taking stock of the damage from the storm, which has killed at least 11 people and damaged more than 40,000 homes.
(AP Photo/Max Becherer). A Coast Guard helicopter prepares to land as members of the Louisiana Army National Guard arrive at a rally point with rescued people from rising floodwater near Walker, La., after heavy rains inundated the region, Sunday, Aug.
– Severe weather damaged AT&T Wireless’s equipment and halted service for some customers in the Baton Rouge area.
At Carencro, just north of Lafayette, the Vermilion is holding steady at its crest of 21.4 feet.
“We’re exhausted, but today’s a good day”, Steele said.
BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) – Authorities went door to door and vehicle to auto to check for bodies Tuesday, and homeowners began the heartbreaking task of gathering up soaked family photos and mucking out houses dank with bayou mud, as the floodwaters started to recede across parts of southern Louisiana. While the extent of the damage will become more apparent in the coming days, another two inches of rain is expected to hit the state before the end of the week.
Flynn said there are 67 people in the shelter opened in Natchez on Saturday.
The CDC says it continues to closely monitor the situation with state and local health officials.
The National Weather Service says southwest MS received over 14 inches of rain late Thursday and Friday. Flood stage is 29 feet.
Retired LSU football and basketball announcer Jim Hawthorne has been rescued from his Baton Rouge home amid catastrophic flooding in southern Louisiana.
Almost a year after LSU gave the University of SC football team a home field advantage as floodwaters ravaged Columbia, the Gamecocks are returning the help. He later tweeted that Hawthorne had been rescued and is safe.
School officials said Wednesday that the closure will let them assess the facilities and grounds.
The list of affected areas of Baton Rouge approved for federal emergency funding has been growing since Sunday.
He says those seeking shelter will be screened by nurses to determine the level of care needed.
If a person’s condition is too critical, they will be referred to a hospital for sheltering or admission.
Many victims will need an extended place to stay while they rebuild.
Gov. John Bel Edwards said during a news conference Tuesday that parts of the state are entering a recovery phase while search and rescue missions happen in other places.
In the Livingston Parish city of Denham Springs, a suburb of Baton Rouge, entire shopping centers were inundated, only roofs of cars peeking above the water.
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Numerous rivers in southeast Louisiana and southern MS overflowed with officials still uncertain just how widespread the damage would be. But the White House says President Barack Obama is unlikely to break from a New England vacation to survey Louisiana flood damage, despite calls for him to visit.
