Louisiana resident David Key rides away after reviewing the damage to his home.
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The waters began rising Friday in southeastern Louisiana as torrential rain fell and refused to abate.
A torrent of about 60cm of rain inundated the southern part of the state over a 48-hour period, and days later many homes and businesses were still underwater.
Joe Raedle/Getty Images Ryan Evans walks along a flooded road, August 15, 2016, in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Muddy water covered roads, forested areas, and residential zones, cars and even the better part of some dwellings.
“Our state is now experiencing a historic flooding event that is breaking every record”, Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwards said in a statement late on Monday.
“We’re praying it stops where it is”, said Kelly’s neighbor, Jenny Ragland, whose home on a ridge was spared similar damage. By Tuesday morning, much of the water had receded, leaving behind mud-smeared, abandoned cars along the roads. They cleared out spiders and cockroaches that had bubbled up through the sewer grates.
“My furniture is all over the place”, he said. But Manuel’s two children – a 5-year-old daughter and 8-year-old son – were fine.
“I can’t live without her pictures”.
“My oldest, she just breaks down and cries”, she said.
Many of those who didn’t have it will undoubtedly want to buy in now, Alford says, adding that after hurricanes Katrina and Rita washed ashore in 2005, the number of policyholders increased by 30%. Eight more parishes were added to the federal disaster declaration, bringing the total number to 12.
In Livingston Parish, one of the hardest-hit areas with about 138,000 people, an official estimated that 75 percent of the homes were a total loss.
Karla and Johnathon McDaniel waded through chest-deep water to revisit their home they fled late Saturday night but the water was too deep to get inside.
The flood waters have claimed at least five victims – one in Tangipahoa Parish, two in East Baton Rouge Parish and two in St. Helena Parish.
People have filled sandbags to protect their houses, bracing for the worst as high water flows toward the Gulf of Mexico.
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.
Almost 800 evacuees were gathered in a makeshift Red Cross shelter established in Gonzales at the Lamar Dixon Expo Center, a multipurpose facility that has hosted rodeos, auto and truck shows and concerts. As of Monday night, at least 36,000 people have registered for assistance online.
Evacuated cows and horses and rescued pets were also being housed on the property.
As water starts to move out of heavily-flooded Livingston Parish in southern Louisiana, authorities assessing the damage believe three-quarters of the homes are destroyed. “She’ll get that straight for you”. “Anything else can be replaced. That’s all I really care about”, Denova told CNN.
Tom Kelly of Prairieville said he had one wish for Monday: to wake up in his own bed and put his feet on dry ground. “I don’t know if I’m going to be able to open back up or not”.
“There are still a lot of people who are suffering”, including the 34 thousand customers who remain without electricity in summer heat and humidity – raising concerns of mold, he said.
Make sure you have a go-bag packed and ready with identification information and emergency supplies. Drummond says Mayfield is originally from Los Angeles and does not have any family in the area.
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Pierce, a New Orleans native, has been posting updates about the natural disaster on Twitter.
