Louisiana Sees Record Flooding Over Weekend

“A Louisiana Welcome” by Stuart Seeger is licensed under CC BY 2.0 Over the weekend, Louisiana experienced record-breaking flooding from heavy rain that has so far killed at least seven and displaced thousands. Roadways disappeared under water, houses flooded, and residents around the south of the state were forced to evacuate. Mike Steele, a spokesman for the Governor’s Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness reported to The New York Times that the effects the flood had on residents, and the response of emergency responders were reminiscent of Hurricane Katrina. President Barack Obama granted Louisiana’s request for a declaration of emergency Sunday evening, and first responders were working around the clock to ensure the safety of residents. Governor John Bel Edwards said Sunday that more than 20,000 people had been rescued, but any sort of “tally was already out of date,” according to The New York Times. While most of southern Louisiana is prone to, and used to, heavy rain and at times, flooding, because this sort of downfall is unprecedented, Edwards said the National Weather Service can’t tell anyone what else you can expect or how else to prepare. To read more about the floods in Louisiana, visit “Thousands Displaced in Storm-Drenched Louisiana.” If you’d like to find out more about the effects flooding and coastal erosion have had on Isle de Jean Charles, Louisiana, read our new SCR Regional Highlight series available on the SCR blog...
Source: Network News - Category: Databases & Libraries Authors: Tags: Disaster Louisiana Source Type: news