Louisiana flood: Worst US disaster since Hurricane Sandy, Red Cross says

[DFighter]

Livingston Parish, Louisiana (CNN)The catastrophic flood devastating Louisiana is now the worst natural disaster to strike the United States since Hurricane Sandy four years ago, the Red Cross said.

"Thousands of people in Louisiana have lost everything they own and need our help now," said Brad Kieserman, the Red Cross' vice president of disaster services operations and logistics.

"This disaster is the worst to hit the United States since Superstorm Sandy, and we anticipate it will cost at least $30 million -- a number which may grow as we learn more about the scope and magnitude of the devastation."

 

The calamity struck quickly and ferociously. In one part of Livingston Parish, more than 31 inches of rain fell in 15 hours.

"I bought enough food to last for a week in case we were flooded in, but I wasn't prepared for this much devastation,"  who lives in the Livingston Parish community of Colyell. "Local stores are running low on everything from food to fuel."

At least 36 of her relatives have lost their homes -- all 13 of them.

"It's unbelievable what we've been through," she said. "We never imaged this would happen."

And it's not over. At least 13 people have died across five parishes. And with more rain forecast, the destruction could mount.

A road in Baton Rouge was relatively dry Saturday but was inundated by Sunday.
 

S Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson visited flood-stricken areas Thursday, a day after the director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency arrived.

President Barack Obama had directed FEMA Director Craig Fugate to "utilize all resources available to assist in the response and recovery," the White House said. Obama has declared at least 20 parishes as disaster areas.

But the President has been criticized for continuing his vacation at Martha's Vineyard instead of visiting the flood zone and victims.

 

The US Coast Guard, National Guard, local emergency responders and even neighbors have helped Rescue more then 30000 people and 1,400 pets.

Help desperately needed

On Thursday, some residents returned to their homes, only to find their belongings soaked and destroyed. Heaps of drenched furniture, mattresses and toys were piled up on lawns as owners struggled to find anything salvageable.

Nathan Teaford said many residents have no protection from floods.

"There's areas that are not in a flood plain. They've never required flood insurance and never thought that something like this would happen because they were above elevation," he said.

Teaford left his suburban Baton Rouge home in a truck. He came back in a boat.

But he was one of the lucky ones; the floodwater stopped at his foundation. Many of his neighbors, though, were not as fortunate.

Gov. John Bel Edwards said at least 40,000 homes have suffered at least some damage. It's not clear how many are uninhabitable.

He called on volunteers to help clean out mud from homes.

"Not everyone can do this on their own," the governor said. He said anyone interested in helping can 

The Red Cross has also asked for donations to help more than 7,000 people in emergency shelters.

"Thousands more are without power in hot, humid conditions," the aid group said.

More rain to come

At least a dozen parishes are still under flood warnings Thursday, with scattered storms in the forecast, CNN meteorologist Dave Hennen said.

"River levels are expected to continue to fall, but some will remain in flood (stages) at least through the weekend," he said.

And given Louisiana's topography, this recovery will be exceptionally slow.

"It's flat. So unlike West Virginia, where water just runs into the river and goes down, it goes down very slowly" in Louisiana, CNN meteorologist Chad Myers said.

"This is a very lumbering, slow, slow flood. It's going to be with us still for many, many days."

Source+video's: http://edition.cnn.com/2016/08/18/us/louisiana-flooding/index.html

 

[Ol Smoke]

Interesting that none of the federal politicians even mention this tragedy.  Did you have a good round Barry?

[Jobba]

Interesting that none of the federal politicians even mention this tragedy.  Did you have a good round Barry?

 

Trump actually visited to show some concern at least. I guess in some cases, Actions do speak louder than words..

[Krayzie]

When will they learn not to live under sea level? Sucks that it constantly happens to them, but still...

[DFighter]

When will they learn not to live under sea level? Sucks that it constantly happens to them, but still...

half my country lays below sea level and ofcourse with immens rains sometimes we also have floodings but this water will be away in only a few hours

what I am curious about is why the most powerfull nation in the world dont use these water / floodings for parts that needs water with channels or pumping systems 

it is not cheap but you can make a win win from it

the part that often is flooding will flood much less and if it does its not for a long time and parts that need water will have much more water that helps in those regions simply by pumping systems tubes or channels as in human made river not sure of the correct word 

 

and if we ( dutch ) would all go live to parts that are not under sea lvl well we would be with over 17 million people in a area thats about 60 by 60 miles

[Raskin]

Governor Edwards does not want president Obama to visit Louisiana because it would take resources away from those who need it for him to visit..Edwards indicated he received help quickly as an order by President Obama declared disaster area ordering federal aid days ago.....unlike Bush... after Katrina sat on his hands

Edited August 20, 2016 by Raskin