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Louisiana Flooding Leaves Most Livingston Parish Residents Facing Total Loss, Sheriff Says

Jeremy Best said he and Henri Dufrane brought their small boat from nearby Wallace to help people escape the flooding.

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The body of a 40-year-old woman from Amite was recovered Saturday from the Tickfaw River.

George described it as an “accidental drowning” related to the storm.

Landry, St. Martin, Vermilion, East Baton Rouge, Livingston, St. Tammany, St. Helena, Washington, West Feliciana and Tangipahoa. But as that water cleared away, flood-levels rose in towns to the south, where water still reached to the rooftops. Several days later, many homes remained underwater.

As of Monday, almost 40,000 people had filed for disaster aid, according to the Times-Picayune.

Another victim, Samuel Muse, 54, of Greensburg, died Friday after he tried to drive through high water and flood waters swept his vehicle off the road, CNN affiliate WAFB reported. And mold has started to set in.

“I’ve lived here my entire life and I’ve never seen anything this bad come from a rain storm”, he said.

Now he has to rip out the drywall and insulation and de-humidify the house as fast as he can so the mold won’t spread.

Mark Harrell, director of the Livingston Parish Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness, estimated that as many as 70 percent of the more than 50,000 homes in the parish had been damaged.

People can seek federal disaster aid by signing up at www.disasterassistance.gov.

Since the flooding began Friday, more than 20,000 have had to be rescued in some of the worst flooding the state has ever seen. The latest additions to the disaster list include Avoyelles, Evangeline, Iberville and Jefferson Davis parishes.

And the heavy rain is now expected to pummel parts of south Texas.

A casket is seen floating in flood waters in Ascension Parish, La., on August 15. The parish has a population of about 138,000 people.

Four public school systems are closed indefinitely, three others are locked up at least through the end of the week and about 20 more are shuttered for parts of this week, state Superintendent of Education John White said Tuesday morning.

The rainfall that battered southern Louisiana has eased, but authorities stepped up rescue efforts Sunday as concerns turned to the impact of floodwaters that have forced thousands from their homes.

Louisiana has recorded 11 deaths, according to the governor’s office.

The Louisiana Department of Health has opened a special needs shelter in the field house on the LSU campus for those affected by the flooding in the Baton Rouge area.

On Aug. 12 Edwards declared a state of emergency for the state of Louisiana and deployed the Louisiana National Guard.

More than 3,300 Guardsmen are involved flood operations – about a third of the force, defense officials said.

Edwards said he expects that number to rise, as he has requested emergency declaration in more than a dozen other parishes.

An airboat transports residents of to dry land Monday in Baton Rouge.

But though the rain had mostly stopped, new places in the state are facing flood dangers from the deluge that has sent thousands into shelters.

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One was in Tangipahoa Parish. Apart from residential damage, Steele said they are also monitoring nursing homes and hospitals in the area that could be impacted by rising water.

Louisiana Flooding Leaves Most Livingston Parish Residents Facing Total Loss, Sheriff Says