Louisiana swamped by downpours
WALKER, La. — Barbara Manuel saw a flicker of sun and that gave her hope that the worst of the horrific flooding to hit southern Louisiana was over. But then the skies ripped open, the lights in her house started to flicker and with three feet of water outside threatening to come in and two young children to care for, she knew it was time to get out.
“I’ve never seen anything like this before,” Manuel said, speaking on the side of the road as she was about to get in a National Guard vehicle. The 41-year-old is one of more than 20,000 people rescued from their homes as of Sunday as rain-swollen rivers flooded their banks and wreaked havoc across southern Louisiana.
She was worried about her mother who lives just up the road. High waters made the trip impassable and cell phone problems made it difficult to reach her. But Manuel’s two children — a 5-year-old daughter and 8-year-old son — were fine.
“As long as my kids are safe, that’s all that matters,” she said.
Across southern Louisiana Sunday, residents scrambled to get to safety as rivers and creeks burst their banks, swollen from days of heavy rain that in some areas came close to two feet over a 48-hour period.
More than 10,000 people were in shelters Sunday, according to Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards.
In high-water vehicles, boats and helicopters, emergency crews hurried to rescue scores of south Louisiana residents as the governor warned it was not over.
From the air, homes in southwest Louisiana looked more like little islands surrounded by flooded fields. Farmland was covered, streets descended into impassable pools of water, shopping centers were inundated with only roofs of cars peeking above the water.
From the ground it was just as catastrophic.
Drivers tried to navigate treacherous roads where the water lapped at the side or covered the asphalt in a running stream. Abandoned cars were pushed to the side of the road, lawn furniture and children’s toys floating through the waters.
The low pressure system that wreaked such havoc moved into Texas, but the National Weather Service warned that there’s still danger of fresh floods, as swollen rivers drain toward the Gulf of Mexico.
Rivers in the Baton Rouge area have started to fall, but still remained above flood stage setting record levels over the weekend, the National Weather Service said today.
“The rivers and streams north of Interstate 12 have crested and have started to drop, while those south of the interstate continue to rise,” meteorologist Mike Efferson said.
The Comite River just east of Baton Rouge this morning dropped nearly 2 feet from the 34.2-feet level over the weekend. Flood stage is 20 feet. The Amite River at Denham Springs was at 43.5 feet today after reaching 46.2 feet. Flood stage is 29 feet.
“The area around Baton Rouge could see up to a half-inch of rain Monday, with a 40 (percent) to 50 percent chance in the forecast,” Efferson said.
The federal government declared a major disaster in the state, specifically in the parishes of Tangipahoa, St. Helena, East Baton Rouge and Livingston. Edwards said President Barack Obama called him and said the people of southern Louisiana were in his thoughts and prayers and that the federal government would be a solid partner.
Four deaths had been reported from the flooding.
