In Louisiana, all seven major roads leading into Greensburg, a city near Baton Rouge, were reported under water and the town cut off by the severe floods. He and his family were forced to leave the governor’s mansion when chest-high water filled the basement and electricity was turned off.
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State police said 140 motorists were rescued from I-12 near the Amite River and were brought to a pick-up location and taken to a shelter by the East Baton Rouge Sheriff’s Office.
In Baker, just north of Baton Rouge, residents said they had to be rescued by boats or wade though waist-deep, snake-infested water to reach dry ground.
At least three people are understood to have been killed and one person is missing following what Louisiana governor John Bel Edwards has described as “unprecedented” and “historic” flooding.
One of the worries, the governor said, is that as the rain lessens in the coming hours, people will become complacent and feel too at ease in areas where waters may still be rising for several days, getting in cars in areas that could still be risky.
“I woke up about 7:30 this morning and the water was half way up my yard”, he said.
Only large National Guard vehicles have been able to get into and out of town, Martin said.
“The National Weather Service can’t tell you what to do after it breaks the record”, Edwards said.
Dramatic video has emerged from flood-hit Baton Rouge in Louisiana showing a woman and her dog being rescued from a auto as floodwaters swallowed the vehicle. The woman, who was not initially visible in a video of the rescue, yelled from inside the vehicle: “Oh my God, I’m drowning”.
One of the rescuers, David Phung, jumps into the water and pulls the woman to safety. She pleaded with Phung to get her dog, but he could not find it.
After several seconds, Mr Phung took a deep breath, dove underwater and resurfaced with a small dog in his arms.
“I got your dog”, he informs the anxious owner, before helping both of them on a rescue boat.
Authorities confirmed a third death in Louisiana on Saturday after recovering the body of a woman from the Tickfaw River in St. Helena Parish, northeast of Baton Rouge near the MS border.
Authorities were going auto to vehicle Saturday night (Aug. 13) to rescue people stranded on Interstate 12 by the horrific Louisiana flooding.
Hansford, 62, said waters from Beaver Creek, which is normally more than 400 feet away from his house, rose quickly overnight.
Heavy downpours pounded parts of the central U.S. Gulf Coast on Friday, forcing the rescue of dozens of people stranded in homes by waist-high water.
In Greenburg, crews in boats and Humvees were busy with rescues, Martin said. “It has not stopped at all today”.
Two days of heavy rain, which claimed the lives of at least 3 people, led both the governors of Louisiana and MS to declare a state of emergency.
A National Weather Service volunteer measured 17.09 inches of rain in Livingston, Louisiana since midnight – making the deluge a 1-in-1000-year rainfall for that location. Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development/Handout via REUTERS ATTENTION EDITORS – THIS IMAGE WAS PROVIDED BY A THIRD PARTY.
The system is expected to turn to the north Sunday and portions of central and northern Louisiana could see heavy rain into next week.
MS and Alabama were also struggling with heavy rainfall.
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Numerous rivers in southeast Louisiana and southern MS were overflowing.
