BATON ROUGE, La. — Robert and Gwen Arceneaux endured a sleepless night Sunday after noticing floodwater creeping into their home — in a neighborhood that had never seen water before.
They gathered up their dogs and a few bags of belongings and fled out the back door, eventually wading through waist-deep water to a passing National Guard truck. Now safe at a movie studio-lot-turned-shelter their worries weren’t over, as they tried to get medication for Robert, who suffers from lung cancer.
“We need to get somewhere safer,” Gwen said, as her dogs panted heavily under the hot sun.
Across southern Louisiana Sunday, residents scrambled to get to safety as rivers and creeks burst their banks, swollen from days of heavy rain that in some areas came close to two feet over a 48-hour period.
In high-water vehicles, boats and helicopters, emergency crews hurried to rescue scores of south Louisiana residents as the governor warned that it was not over.
“We know people are hurting. They are tired,” said Livingston Parish President Layton Ricks, according to CBS affiliate WAFB. “We have not forgotten you. We’re coming to get you.”
From the air homes in southwest Louisiana looked more like little islands surrounded by flooded fields. Farmland was covered, streets descended into impassable pools of water, shopping centers were inundated with only roofs of cars peeking above the water.
From the ground it was just as catastrophic.
Drivers tried to navigate treacherous roads where the water lapped at the side or covered the asphalt in a running stream. Abandoned cars were pushed to the side of the road, lawn furniture and children’s toys floating through the waters. – READ MORE
