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U.S. NEWSMonday 14 March 2016
Louisiana, Mississippi: thousands of homes damaged in floods
BY CAIN BURDEAU Traffic rushes past this flooded neighborhood in Drew, Miss., Friday, March 11, 2016, as floodwaters said Worsham was in a
ASSOCIATED PRESS have affected areas in the Delta. boat that capsized as he
NEW ORLEANS (AP) -- Wide- and two others were mov-
spread flooding in Loui- Associated Press ing items from a home onto
siana and Mississippi has an aluminum boat.
damaged thousands of “At this point, any rain will Barack Obama signed an may not get federal disas- On Sunday, Mississippi of-
homes and the risk of more aggravate the flooding sit- order declaring the flood- ter aid if they didn’t have ficials said they were still
flooding played out Sun- uation,” he said. “But these ing in Louisiana a major di- insurance. “It’s not going to looking for two missing fish-
day as rain-filled rivers rose (storms) are kind of fast saster. The president’s dec- be the open check book,” ermen, but had no reports
over banks. moving and isolated.” laration triggers federal aid he added. of injuries or deaths there.
At least four deaths have for flood victims. Downpours - part of a sys- Flooding on rain-swollen riv-
been reported in Louisiana, In Louisiana, emergency Louisiana Lt. Gov. Billy Nun- tem affecting Louisiana, ers remained a major con-
including that of an elderly officials said more than gesser said he was worried Mississippi, Arkansas, Ten- cern.
man, authorities said. Two 4,958 homes were dam- that many flood victims nessee and Alabama - In Tennessee, Emergency
fishermen have been miss- aged. That number is ex- had not purchased flood have submerged roads Management Agency di-
ing for days in Mississippi. pected to rise as more re- insurance. and cars, washed out rector Rickey Graves in
In northwest Tennessee, ports come in from areas bridges and forced resi- Gibson County told The
more than a dozen homes still battling floodwaters. “A lot of these people I dents to flee homes. Jackson Sun that about
were evacuated late Sat- Mississippi reported that spoke to did not have flood Authorities in Louisiana’s 10 homes in the commu-
urday after heavy rains 185 homes were damaged insurance because they Natchitoches Parish said nity of Kenton and a half
breached a levee, accord- by floodwaters and about had never flooded be- Harold Worsham, 78, dozen homes in Trenton
ing to emergency officials. 650 homes sustained minor fore,” Nungesser said in a drowned while trying to were evacuated Saturday
Flood warnings were in ef- damage. telephone interview. flee floodwaters on Saline night after a levee was
fect across the region as On Sunday, President He warned that residents Bayou. The sheriff’s office breached.
many rivers remained dan- It’s the most widespread
gerously high. non-hurricane flooding the
Also of concern was an- Louisiana National Guard
other line of thunderstorms has ever dealt with, said
that was expected to hit Col. Pete Schneider, a
parts of Oklahoma, Arkan- guard spokesman.
sas, northern Louisiana and The National Guard said it
northern Mississippi Sunday had about 1,400 soldiers
night. Hail and tornadoes and air crews at work in
were possible, forecasters flooded areas throughout
said. Louisiana, deploying in
But Davyon Hill, a meteo- high-water vehicles, boats
rologist with the National and three helicopters. By
Weather Service in Shreve- Sunday morning, National
port, said this storm system Guard crews had evacu-
was not expected to drop ated more than 3,295
the kind of record-setting people and 316 pets as
rains that the region has part of its round-the-clock
seen recently. operations.q
