Any of you in southern Louisiana? Ok?

[Fermion]

We are sitting here in Illinois in our RV in the rain (yeah, I know, why did we leave Seattle if the rain is just going to follow us?) and I saw on the news that Louisiana has received over 30 inches of rain in some areas. I hope any of you down there are ok (though maybe no internet so this might fall on death ears).

 

[folivier]

We're pretty much in the middle of it in Gonzales. Fortunately we haven't flooded but not out of the woods yet as the mass of flood waters will slowly move eastward toward Lake Maurepas but should stay just a mile or so north of us. But many more areas will flood in the next 24-48 hours.
Over 7000 people have been rescued so far. Thousands of cars are stranded on I-12 between Baton Rouge and Hammond since yesterday. National Guard is planning to air drop supplies to them.
WBRZ-TV Channel 2 Baton Rouge, LA has online coverage of the disaster.
This flood is historic, many areas that have never flooded are under water. Just too much rain in too short a time period.

 

[ziggy29]

Though we live in south central Texas, my wife was at a gathering in New Orleans for the last few days, in conjunction with a churchwide assembly which ended yesterday morning. She and another attendee left yesterday to head back home. Fortunately they planned a short drive and stop for the night in Lake Charles anyway; it took 7-8 hours amidst lane closures and detours around flooded roads to make it even that far.

As of now they are safe and sound, trying to navigate around the mess that is Houston, and get home later this afternoon. The worst is behind them.

 

[Car-Guy]

As of now they are safe and sound, trying to navigate around the mess that is Houston, and get home later this afternoon.The worst is behind them.

"The worst is behind them"? Ha. You guys must not have driven though Houston lately. Rain or no rain.

 

[folivier]

National Guard is ferrying people to safety using Blackhawks who are stuck in their cars on the interstates.

 

[eytonxav]

I imagine classes will be starting soon at LSU, hopefully a lot of the students have not yet arrived on campus. This is truly heart breaking, I think they had something like 24" of rain within a days time and its still coming down.

 

[bbbamI]

Friends of our live in Denham Springs, LA. News from them has been sketchy, but the latest is they have lost practically everything. They are staying with relatives now. Fortunately, they have adequate insurance and are financially stable.

But still.....

 

[MichaelB]

Friends of our live in Denham Springs, LA. News from them has been sketchy, but the latest is they have lost practically everything. They are staying with relatives now. Fortunately, they have adequate insurance and are financially stable.

But still.....

I feel for your friends. Insurance replaces the stuff that has $ value, but it will be a major life disruption for a year or more, and for sure the records and collection of things that document their life and family are gone.

 

[mickeyd]

I just saw a CNN report that noted that the LA NG has rescued 4000 people today from the flooding.

 

[Teacher Terry]

I think what would be the most heartbreaking is the pics and things that were in your family that you treasured. Those can't be replaced. Of course I am assuming that people aren't hurt or dead as obviously that would be worse.

 

[bUU]

A lot of the comments I see coming out from folks in the affected areas notes how little attention they're getting this time around (allegedly because NOLa itself is not significantly affected). One claim I wonder about is the claim that while the flooding is due to the weather, of course, there is a component of this that goes beyond the weather: "We are flooded by waters our country put in the rivers." Does anyone know what they're talking about?

 

[folivier]

The flooding was caused by over 20" of rain in one day. Too much over too short a period. Usually when you hear that statement it is the Mississippi River when it is near flooding. Not sure why anyone would make that statement about this flood?
All of that flood water now has to travel through the Amite and other rivers toward Lake Maurepas and eventually the Gulf of Mexico. We are expecting more flooding today and possibly tomorrow as that water moves toward the lake.

 

[W2R]

We haven't had any significant flooding at all in New Orleans. We had a little mild flooding but in the "usual places", in other words nothing that is very unusual for us. We have not even had that much rain although it has rained a little every day. Most of the heavy rains were north and west of here, in places like Amite, Livingston Parish, Denham Springs, and Baton Rouge, for example. Folivier is indeed right in the middle of it there in Gonzales. I used to live in Baton Rouge back in the 1990's when I was working at LSU, and I was shocked to read about some of the Baton Rouge neighborhoods that flooded this week - - as Folivier said, many parts of town that never flood, were badly flooded and on the news this time.

It's absolutely awful to see the videos and photos showing the extent of flooding, the loss of life, and so many displaced and having to be rescued and so on.

 

[HFWR]

Well, the COE does control dams, and the amount of water let through, but with that much rain, they're between the proverbial rock and a wet place...

 

[bUU]

I finally got a reply to my question about what was meant by "We are flooded by waters our country put in the rivers." It was simply a weird way of saying that Louisiana was the place where all the water flowing into the Mississippi River from many other states ends up.

 

[Cobra9777]

I have family in Prairieville, Gonzales, and Baton Rouge. Remarkably, they are all OK with no water in their houses at this moment, though there is water all around and some areas are still rising. Very lucky, but they all built on high ground and slightly elevated above grade. Very tragic for that area.

 

[Sarah in SC]

Our local Red Cross put out an email saying that this was a level 7 (highest) national response and were calling for hundreds of volunteers in sheltering, feeding, and logistics to be deployed. It is a massive effort to get these flooded out folks to safety and to care for them.
I considered going, but am too inexperienced to jump in on the front end of a response like this one. I may volunteer in a few weeks as most deployments are for just two weeks to avoid burnout, and they will need fresh recruits for the long haul down there.
Feel so awful for these people, the flood damage in our state (1,000 year) last year was devastating and I can imagine how tough it will be to recover.

 

[big-papa]

Though I live in Central Texas, most of my family is in southeast Louisiana in and around Hammond. Very sad to watch.

 

[eytonxav]

Our local Red Cross put out an email saying that this was a level 7 (highest) national response and were calling for hundreds of volunteers in sheltering, feeding, and logistics to be deployed. It is a massive effort to get these flooded out folks to safety and to care for them.
I considered going, but am too inexperienced to jump in on the front end of a response like this one. I may volunteer in a few weeks as most deployments are for just two weeks to avoid burnout, and they will need fresh recruits for the long haul down there.
Feel so awful for these people, the flood damage in our state (1,000 year) last year was devastating and I can imagine how tough it will be to recover.

Kudos to USC for providing food relief to flood victims.