The waters and the death toll continued to rise today in rain-battered Louisiana, as flooding of historic levels swept anew into some communities and stubbornly lingered in hundreds more.
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The death toll from historic flooding in Louisiana has climbed to 11, as the expanding flood zone prompted authorities to declare disasters in 20 parishes of the south-eastern USA state.
As we reported earlier, floods have crippled Louisiana since Friday as a storm system dropped more than 2 feet of rain in some areas. Still waiting are Allen, Avoylles, Iberville, Jefferson Davis, St. Martin, St. Tammany, Washington, West Feliciana and Cameron parishes.
For now, most of the affected areas remain inundated but expectations are that the waters will slowly recede, while thousands will remain housed in shelters, some of them improvised like the one at the Celtic television studio.
During the first eight months of this year alone, President Barack Obama has had to issue disaster declarations for north, central and south Louisiana.
Landry, St. Martin, Vermilion, East Baton Rouge, Livingston, St. Tammany, St. Helena, Washington, West Feliciana and Tangipahoa. They will provide training in certain areas for people who are looking to volunteer.
More than 60,000 people had signed up for assistance from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, and 16 parishes were added to the federal disaster declaration, bringing the total to 20.
In numerous worst-hit parishes, emergency teams began to coordinate door-to-door search and rescue operations, checking and marking homes as well as cars that had washed off the roads.
Archer said knowing help is on the way and knowing people care can make a world of difference after a disaster.
Of the 54,000 homes in Livingston Parish, authorities estimate that 80 percent of residents will face a total loss when they return home, parish Sheriff Jason Ard told ABC News. Volunteers set forth in flatboats and canoes anyway, plucking the trapped from newly flooded Ascension Parish, southeast of Baton Rouge.
Corrects that parish, not town has 138,000 people.
Agriculture and Forestry Commissioner Mike Strain said in a news release Monday the mobile pet shelter can hold approximately 50 pets.
Last night the Federal Government declared a major disaster for Louisiana. Residents woke Tuesday to find their homes and businesses still surrounded by muddy water.
An act of God is how some are describing it, a catastrophic 48-hour torrent of rain that sent thousands of people in Louisiana scrambling for safety and left many wondering how a region accustomed to hurricanes could get caught off guard so badly. Over the weekend, he shared the sad news that he’d lost his home in Baton Rouge, but he still managed to offer help to those in need.
In areas south of Baton Rouge, people were filling sandbags, protecting their houses and bracing for the worst as the water worked its way south. People were trapped inside cars around the Baton Rouge.
The Louisiana National Guard has mobilized 1,700 soldiers to help with search and rescue efforts, and military police are assisting local law enforcement with security.
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Many municipalities implemented evening curfews to combat the problem, and to allow rescue crews to move freely at night. He wasn’t sure how many people from his town had fled to shelters, but he estimated that 75% of Ascension Parish had been hit by the flooding, he said.
