3 killed, thousands rescued in southeast Louisiana floods

A government official says that 5,050 people are now staying in shelters due to the widespread flooding that has struck the state.

While the brunt of the storm that brought torrential rains and flooding to the area was moving west toward Texas on Sunday, Louisiana residents should remain cautious, the governor said at a news conference.

Additional parishes may join the list as further damage assessments are made.

Between six and 10 inches of rain fell on parts of Louisiana Friday and several more inches fell on Saturday, the National Weather Service reported.

Several areas have curfews in place from 8 p.m.to 6 a.m.as three people have died as a result of historic flooding sweeping through south Louisiana.

Rescue crews worked through the night and into the day as deadly flooding that officials say has left at least three people dead and one missing continued to submerge large parts of the region on Sunday, three days after water-swelled streams and rivers began rising.

In addition to the three dead in the flooding, another person is believed to be missing in St. Helena Parish, northeast of Baton Rouge near the MS border, Edwards said.

Once on higher ground people and animals could finally breathe a sigh of relief, but thousands still wait to see if they’ll even have a home once the water recedes and over five thousand wait in shelters.

He ran into a police roadblock on Sunday morning in east Baton Rouge, where rapidly rising water is flooding neighborhoods near the juncture of the swollen Amite and Comite rivers.

Cobb said some of the people stranded were actually fleeing flooding in their homes when they got caught on the freeway.

“If you don’t have to be on the road, stay off the road”, said Gov. Edwards.

Baton Rouge was particularly affected by the floodwaters. Others are staying at private shelters, including those offered by churches.

“That’s never happened before”, said the governor, whose family relocated to a state police facility in the Baton Rouge area.

The body of a 40-year-old woman was recovered Saturday afternoon in St. Helena Parish.

Some areas of the state received roughly two feet (60 centimeters) of rain in less than 48 hours, forcing rivers to overrun their banks inundating nearby communities.

The Coast Guard said its helicopters rescued more than 50 people from rooftops, vehicles and trailers on Saturday.

A submerged auto near Highway 30.

This is the second flood victim for St. Helena Parish. Rescuers found the two others clinging to a tree on Saturday. “I would saw for a while”. According to The Advocate, about 1,700 National Guardsmen have been mobilized and more are set to join in efforts.