Flood waters receded in southern Louisiana on
Wednesday (Aug 17), after a days-long deluge that inundated vast areas, claimed
11 lives, and impacted some 40,000 homes.
Residents were cleaning up in many neighbourhoods,
and trying to assess the scope of the devastation left by heavy, unrelenting
rains that overwhelmed rivers and sent them flooding over their banks.
"When you have a storm that is unnamed, wasn't
a tropical storm, wasn't a hurricane, a lot of the times people underestimate
the impacts that it would have," Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwards said
Tuesday.
The National Weather Service forecasted waterways
would fall back below flood stage later Wednesday or as late as Friday,
depending on the area.
In areas that have dried out, many residents began
the recovery process. They were gutting their homes in a race against mould.
In Walker, a town of 6,000 people east of Baton
Rouge, heaps of belongings were outside waterlogged homes strewn on front
lawns. Everything from scrapbooks, TV sets, furniture to dry wall, carpeting
and insulation was being thrown out.
Authorities were checking every flooded home and
automobile, not knowing how many people might be missing and how many simply
might be unable to communicate.
Eleven people were confirmed dead, and 40,000 homes
were impacted by the floods.
"Well over 75 per cent of our parish has been
touched by this," said Sheriff Jason Ard of Livingston Parish, a county of
more than 130,000 people east of the Mississippi River.
"It is something that is going to take months
upon months to recover from," Ard said.
Twenty parishes - similar to counties in other
states - were declared disaster areas, freeing up federal money to aid with
rescue operations and emergency housing, among other things.
The American Red Cross launched a donation campaign
for Louisiana flood victims, and deployed 67 emergency response vehicles,
according to spokesman Patrick Pannett who was interviewed by local TV station
WAFB.
"We're going to have thousands of people coming
in," Pannett said.
The singer Taylor Swift donated US$1 million (S$1.3
million), saying the disaster was "heartbreaking."
straitstimes
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