In Ascension Parish, fewer than a quarter of households have flood insurance.
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The trauma was evident among people who went back Tuesday.
Louisiana Army National Guard soldiers and other officials helped rescue hundreds of people from their homes and cars, including Danielle Blount and her 3-month-old baby, Ember. FEMA Administrator Craig Fugate visited the area Tuesday. The head of FEMA says the agency understands that the state is suffering through a “very large disaster” even though it might not be getting a lot of attention in the news.
At least 11,000 people have hunkered down in shelters to wait out the floods.
State officials who had been tracking storm-related deaths could not immediately confirm the death was tied to the flooding. The state planned to impose curfews on Tuesday night in the parishes with widespread damage. A 66-year-old man’s body was found in the Sherwood Forest area.
A boy rides his bike inside the flood damaged Life Tabernacle Church, Aug. 15, 2016, in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.A flooded home is seen, Aug. 15, 2016, in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
With several inland waterways unable to drain into their usual channels, Conger warned residents living near low-lying areas around Bayou Narcisse, Bayou Francois, New River Canal and Black Bayou that they were at risk.
As of Monday, almost 40,000 people had filed for disaster aid, according to the Times-Picayune. There were fish and thousands of spiders, and mold had started to grow.
“I’m not going to lie, I cried uncontrollably”, he said.
Already, 40,000 residents have registered for disaster aid, Edwards said. The parish is one of several approved for federal assistance. Those parishes are mostly in south central Louisiana.
Louisiana will mark the 11th anniversary later this month of Hurricane Katrina, which killed more than 1,800 people when floods overwhelmed levees and broke through flood walls protecting New Orleans on August 29, 2005. The latest additions to the disaster list include Avoyelles, Evangeline, Iberville and Jefferson Davis parishes.
Homes here along the Tangipahoa River were among the many affected by floods.
Of the 54,000 homes in Livingston Parish, authorities estimate that 80 percent of residents will face a total loss when they return home, parish Sheriff Jason Ard told ABC News. The parish has a population of about 138,000 people.
Efferson says the Comite River just east of Baton Rouge on Monday morning dropped almost 2 feet from the 34.2-feet level over the weekend.
Flood waters in some areas are receding, while areas such as St. Amant and Gonzales remain underwater.
Edwards said he expects that number to rise, as he has requested emergency declaration in more than a dozen other parishes.
“It all came down my way”, he said.
Rivers and creeks are still dangerously bloated south of Baton Rouge. People have filled sandbags to protect their houses, bracing for the worst as high water flows toward the Gulf of Mexico.
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Officials also updated the death toll to eight, but The Advocate in Baton Rouge reports a ninth fatality, citing East Baton Rouge County Coroner William “Beau” Clark. Thousands of hunters and fishermen from throughout the region arrived in boats and organized themselves into search-and-rescue parties.
