Residents returning to their homes are finding standing water, mould, and pest infestations, while the threat of further flooding and rainfall remains.
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Jones says the low pressure system that brought flooding to the Baton Rouge area and south central Louisiana got caught up in another system over the weekend and is now over southern Missouri.
The extent of damage was coming into clearer view.
The National Guard mobilized 2,500 personnel and almost 195 high-water vehicles and had rescued almost 3,400 people and 400 pets as of Monday. Other areas have received rainfall that had about a 1 percent chance of occurring, or a “100-year rain”. They’re getting people to safe, higher ground, but not all the way to where the shelters are, which have food water, places to sleep.
“It is possible that a significant number of our parish staff are unable to leave their homes and come to work, so we will need to rely heavily on parish volunteers”, the notice said.
Members of the Coast Guard and National Guard, along with emergency responders and regular civilians, helped take more than 20,000 residents to safety, officials said.
‘This event is ongoing, it is not over, ‘ he said. They cleaned out spiders and cockroaches that had bubbled up through the sewer grates.
In Ascension Parish alone, south of Baton Rouge, almost 15,000 homes have been affected by the flooding, and that number is expected to grow.
“None of these places are in a flood zone”, she said.
The bedroom floors were buckled and the walls bowed, and the swimming pool, once a crystal-clear blue, was filled with brown water.
She said: ‘We have never seen anything like this. “I can understand flooding, but what made me angry was the break-in”.
Jared Serigne of St. Bernard Parish said he helped organize volunteer efforts involving roughly 70 experienced boaters who helped hundreds of people from flooded communities. The extent of the damage prompted U.S. President Barack Obama to issue a disaster declaration on Sunday, with additional parishes approved on Tuesday for the federal assistance. The death toll rose from an earlier reports of three to at least six victims, with unconfirmed reports of a seventh victim surfacing.
The Baton Rouge area remains under a flood watch until 4 p.m. Monday, but Efferson said it likely will be extended. In one area, Ascension Parish, officials said some small towns have already been inundated.
Though the storms that caused the flooding had largely moved on by Sunday afternoon, flood warnings remained in effect around Livingston Parish.
Kelly and others planned to spend the night in Ragland’s home. He lost everything before when a fire destroyed his home. “Anything else can be replaced. That’s all I really care about”, Denova told CNN.
“That’s going to be the case over the next couple of days”, Edwards said.
David Key arrived at his house in Prairieville by boat this morning to find five inches (12.7 cm) of “muddy nasty bayou water”. There were fish and thousands of spiders.
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“I fully expect that more parishes will be added to the declaration on a rolling basis”, Governor Edwards said. “We’re asking people, if you’re going to fight it, fight it, but I think it was a tough decision to make for everybody”. “Like everybody says, you still have your family”.
