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. She said Tuesday that operations at Motiva’s Convent and its Norco refinery, about 38 miles to the south, are stable. Obama received the briefing while in Martha’s Vineyard, a MA island.
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Meanwhile, Kailath says, forecasters predict more rain for some areas of Louisiana over the rest of the week.
The order is effective retroactively to last Friday and lasts until September 9. And at least 11,000 have hunkered down in shelters to wait out the floods.
It wasn’t immediately clear why the number has dropped: whether some who evacuated as a precaution didn’t get flooded or if others moved in with family and friends or returned to stay in damaged houses.
At an events facility in Ascension Parish, 1,100 animals remained sheltered.
BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) – At least 40,000 homes were damaged and 10 people killed in the historic Louisiana floods, the governor said Tuesday, giving a stark assessment of the widespread disaster.
Eight deaths are now attributed to the storms and flooding in south Louisiana.
“We’re going to have standing water all over south Louisiana”, the governor said. The site has links to federal, state and nonprofit agencies offering assistance for water-damaged companies. In one area, Ascension Parish, officials said some small towns have already been inundated. The SBA provides loans of up to $2 million to fix and replace damaged equipment, inventory and property.
ALBANY, La. (AP) – The smell of muddy water hung heavy in the air as people began sorting through waterlogged belongings and ripping out carpets Wednesday in flood-wracked southern Louisiana, which now faces a long-term challenge of how to house thousands of displaced people.
“None of these places are in a flood zone”, she said.
The entertainer tweeted early Wednesday morning that she and her family are donating to relief efforts.
Second Harvest Food Bank, a Louisiana organization, says it is sending thousands of pounds of food, water and cleaning supplies to the flood victims. Letelier had more than five feet of water in her home. She was seen Saturday night attempting to turn around in high water when her vehicle was swept away.
Exxon Mobil Corp. curbed operations at the fourth-largest USA refinery in the U.S.as record flooding in Louisiana shut roadways, sent tens of thousands fleeing from their homes and threatened the state’s oil infrastructure. People have filled sandbags to protect their houses, bracing for the worst as high water flows toward the Gulf of Mexico.
Chris Bankston was with workers mucking out his family-owned auto parts store Wednesday. He says his father opened the business close to 70 years ago. By Sunday, the gasoline pumps out front were covered with water.
Lori Steele, spokeswoman for the Livingston Parish Sheriff’s Office, told the Associated Press an estimated 75% of the homes were a “total loss”. About 138,000 people live in the parish.
Gov. John Bel Edwards declared an emergency on Friday.
The American Red Cross said more than 1,000 of its disaster volunteers have been mobilized from across the U.S.to help with relief efforts.
Kieserman says the flooding in Louisiana is the worst natural disaster to strike the United States since Superstorm Sandy.
Jeremy Best said he and Henri Dufrane brought their small boat from nearby Wallace to help people escape the flooding.
The floods began during torrential rains Friday and many homes and businesses are still underwater.
Downstream many are eyeing swollen rivers to see whether more damage is coming.
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The National Weather Service says the rivers in the Baton Rouge area have started to fall, but still remain above flood stage setting record levels over the weekend. It was a welcome moment of levity after days of worry around the state’s southeast, which saw thousands of water rescues.
