New plight for Louisiana flood victims

“It is something that is going to take months upon months to recover from”, Ard said.

The scale of the damage is not yet known. Henry said his trailer home was raised off the ground and not damaged, but he wasn’t sure if it would remain that way.

Gov. John Bel Edwards of Louisiana and his office said that more than 30,000 people had been rescued since the flooding began Friday.

Brad Kieserman, vice president, Disaster Services Operations and Logistics for the Red Cross, said in a news release the massive relief operation will cost at least $30 million.

Sims is among many without flood insurance who will depend on federal assistance. At the height, 11,000 people were staying in shelters, though that had dropped to 6,000 by Wednesday. Obama received the briefing while in Martha’s Vineyard, a MA island.

Canezaro said the donations will be distributed to shelters in the Baton Rouge area where needed.

“Nobody wants to do a long-term shelter”.

Residents in 20 parishes are eligible for disaster assistance as a result of a federal disaster declaration.

FEMA declared those and 16 other parishes federal disasters.

Secretary of Homeland Security Jeh Johnson planned to travel to Louisiana on Thursday to review recovery efforts.

“This is a very large disaster impacting tens of thousands of people”, Fugate said.

As Louisiana well knows, the loosening of the recovery purse strings is directly commensurate to the number of people who are made aware of the scope of the devastation. “We need to get this water out of here so we can go back to our lives”.

Wide stretches of southern Louisiana are once again flooded with more than two feet of water.

The Amite and Comite river basins that flooded “have been a longtime challenge for Louisiana”, Johnston said today in an interview.

Parish leaders also began signaling the end of the emergency phase.

Ascension officials lifted a dusk-to-dawn curfew in parts of the flood-stricken parish.

Kunzelman and Deslatte reported from Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

Central Mayor Jr. Shelton said he hoped to have trucks picking up debris by the end of this week.

“I’m not going to lie, I cried uncontrollably”, he said. And with that came a flood of emotions. His parish is home to more than 130,000 people. We are grateful to him for the great company he founded – Amedisys – which has provided us with the opportunity to be helpful to so many people through the years. “We’re devoting lots of resources, lots of people to this effort”. Lori Steele, spokeswoman for the Livingston Parish Sheriff’s Office, told the Associated Press an estimated 75% of the homes were a “total loss”. His sodden furniture is piled curbside and the drywall in his rented house is puckering, but Thomas still plans to keep living there, sleeping on an air mattress. It has one bedroom, a sofa-sleeper, four bunks and one bathroom. She’s lived in the home with her husband and 23-year-old son for almost three years.

Smith and her husband are both in their 70s and on fixed incomes.

We value thoughtful comments representing a range of views that make their point quickly and politely. “At our age that’s kind of rough”. She describes how she was able to influence the future of a 15-year-old who called in, begging the novelist to persuade her father not to force her into marriage.”We said: “The father of this girl, you are listening to us, you hear what your girl is saying”, Gudaji recounts”. They may own their home outright, or the federal classification of the risk in their area may have been raised since they originally bought the home. Countless others had no flood insurance and may lack the means to fix their homes.

“I figure by fixing it up one room at a time, we’ll be fine”, William told The Associated Press.

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“Louisiana won’t let anybody suffer-if they need help, they’re there”. “We ain’t looking for a handout. Just a hand. That’s a true statement”. So many displaced pets and other animals have ended up at the Lamar Dixon Expo Center in Gonzalez, south of Baton Rouge, that the state Agriculture Department sent a strike team to help out.