(Newswire.net — August 15, 2016) —The Governor of Louisiana, John Bel Edwards, warned that the heavy rain, which cause flooding in Louisiana, was not over. He added that on Saturday at least three people were reported missing, and another in the Saint Helena district, totalling four, but the number has not increased since.
The Governor said that the intensity of the storm has eased, but Edwards has told residents not to leave their homes and not go looking around even if the weather improves, reports the AP.
“Obviously, this is a serious event. It is ongoing. It is not over,” the Governor said at a news conference, announcing he had requested a disaster declaration from the Federal Emergency Management Agency. “Waters are going to continue to rise in many areas. This is no time to let your guard down.”
He previously declared a state of emergency, with schools closing down, as well as state institutions and many roads and highways.
Hundreds were airlifted from a church and more than 5,000 took refuge in shelters.
A meteorologist from the National Weather Service in Louisiana described this flood as historic and added that there is nothing really comparable to it. Torrential rain has been falling for days, with many areas around Baton Rouge, La., receiving 10 to 15 inches of water in 48 hours. More than 21 inches of rain had fallen in Livingston, near Baton Rouge, from Thursday morning to Saturday morning
The National Weather Service has issued a warning that during the weekend, the flooding could spread to some parts of southern Mississippi and southeastern Louisiana, including New Orleans.
The same states were hit by floods in March this year, when at least four people died, and thousands of houses were damaged.
Although the storm that caused the flooding has subsided and moved to the west, forecasters warned that lingering scattered showers could exacerbate the flooding in the Baton Rouge area. About 1 inch of rain was forecast over south-central Louisiana and 1 to 2 inches across east Texas and western and central Louisiana.