The Sabine River has overtaken the road, with propane tanks floating in front of homes and mail boxes peeking out of the water.
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“It’s going to remain quiet” for the rest of Monday, said Danielle Banks, a meteorologist for The Weather Channel, “but in the days to come, flooding still is a huge problem”. A mandatory evacuation order was issued Saturday for the town of about 1,000, with no reports of anyone hurt.
The Sabine reached 29 feet Sunday morning in Deweyville, Texas, and by Tuesday, it could hit 35 feet, a good 3 feet above the record flood level set all the way back in 1884, forecasters said.
“We are really under a flash-flood emergency”.
Flooding is expected to worsen in the city of Orange, Texas, rising to the second highest level on record and the highest ever for river flooding due to rains upstream.
The Louisiana Governor’s Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness tweeted earlier Tuesday that the interstate had already been shut down.
On Sunday, emergency responders in Hattiesburg, Mississippi, warned that the rising flood waters could bring toxins with them.
Deputies said there have been an at least 30 to 40 people rescued in the area since Sunday.
For those drivers, the LDOTD suggests branching off I-10 West in Lafayette, Louisiana, and taking I-49 North before taking I-20 West into Texas. Three other people were previously known to have died in Louisiana, along with one each in Texas and Oklahoma.
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Since last Wednesday, the Louisiana National Guard has reported 4,255 rescues and the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries has reported 700, GOHSEP said.
