Heavy rain, street flooding prompts La. schools to close

The Louisiana town of Livingston was pounded with 10.5 inches of rain from Thursday night into Friday; the MS town of Gloster was drenched by 9.9 inches.

The unidentified 68-year-old fell into a ditch in Zachary, was carried away and later found dead, the East Baton Rouge coroner’s office told WBRZ.

The flooding has closed many schools in the Baton Rouge area, including Louisiana State University. The children and bus driver were successfully taken to safety.

Amite County Emergency Manager Grant McCurley said Friday that officials are trying to rescue people trapped by floodwaters in Crosby.

An 18-wheeler was also swept off of Highway 10 in northern Louisiana and its driver needed to be rescued.

Parish President Robby Miller said authorities rescued 72 people and seven pets stranded by high water.

Heavy rain has sparked risky flash flooding and water rescues in parts of Louisiana and MS this morning. This morning, water built up on an interstate, causing heavy delays in traffic.

In the Tangipahoa Parish city of Hammond, close to two dozen streets were closed because of high water, and sandbags were made available for pickup by residents hoping to keep water out of homes and businesses.

The National Weather Service has issued a flash flood warning for Washington Tangipahoa, Livingston, West Baton Rouge, East Baton Rouge and portions of St. Tammany, Pointe Coupee and Ascension parishes until 1 p.m. Friday.

In Alabama, a flash flood watch was in effect Friday along the Alabama Gulf coast, the National Weather Service said.

All of southeast Louisiana remains under a flood watch until Saturday morning.

Though it said most of the Mississippi River would probably be OK with the extra water, AccuWeather continued to urge caution, comparing the storm over the south to a tropical storm in terms of speed and rain.

“Bottom line is that several more inches of rainfall can still be expected in intermittent fashion overnight”, said the discussion message.