South-west Louisiana is on a knife-edge as Tropical Storm Harvey threatens to inundate the region with potentially disastrous flooding 12 years after Hurricane Katrina made landfall in the state.
Damage so far is nothing compared with the toll in Texas, but a heavy band of rainfall proved too much for some Lake Charles neighbourhoods, pushing water into houses that local residents said they had never seen flood.
Across the state in New Orleans, a large cluster of heavy rain was moving in from the Gulf of Mexico, seeming to take aim at the Crescent City.
Lake Charles Fire Department Division Chief Lennie LaFleur said rescuers evacuated hundreds of people from one neighbourhood, sometimes through chest-deep water.
Residents came out in National Guard trucks and wildlife agents’ boats, carrying belongings in suitcases, rubbish bags and soggy cardboard boxes.
Rescuers focused at first on people with medical problems or were frail, but eventually offered to take everyone who wanted out. Most people went to homes of friends and relatives.
Officials fear more rain is on the way.
“We just can’t take any more,” Calcasieu Parish Sheriff Tony Mancuso said, urging residents to leave flood-prone homes. “Anything we get is going to be crucial at this point.”
Much of the region got a break on Monday afternoon after an earlier dousing, with a few hints of sunshine. Water drained out of streets into ditches and low areas, but manhole covers in central Lake Charles were bubbling, and officials remained worried that storm surge and high tides could slow drainage across the flat plain of south-western Louisiana.
Flash Flood Warning including Lake Charles LA, Moss Bluff LA, Prien LA until 9:00 AM CDT pic.twitter.com/6moVZv8WL0
— NWS Lake Charles (@NWSLakeCharles) August 29, 2017
“Storm surge is going to be a factor,” said Andy Patrick, meteorologist in charge of the National Weather Service office in Lake Charles. “The water is going to be there and it’s going to be hard to drain out.”
Although Louisiana does not appear to be facing a threat on par with Harvey’s catastrophic toll in Texas, images of flood devastation in Houston revived painful memories for survivors of Hurricane Katrina, which made landfall in the Gulf Coast on August 29 2005.
New Orleans mayor Mitch Landrieu said a recently repaired pump failed on Monday during Harvey’s heavy rains. He added that most pumps are working, and the city is continuing with efforts to improve the pumping system.
12th anniv of Hurricane Katrina; we so much appreciate Louisiana Dept Wildlife & Fisheries agents who have now came to our aid. #Harvey2017 pic.twitter.com/EkTSJn2hIQ
— Texas Game Warden (@TexasGameWarden) August 29, 2017
Louisiana governor John Bel Edwards told reporters he expects the threat to rise as outer rain bands sweep into Louisiana, adding: “This is going to play out over several days.”
The National Weather Service has issued a flash flood watch for all of south-east Louisiana, south-west Mississippi and the Mississippi Gulf Coast through to Thursday. Forecasters say up to 8in of rain is possible.
Forecasters also warned of isolated tornadoes in Louisiana, especially in areas near the coast.
#Harvey is expected to produce additional rainfall totals of 7-13″ over parts of
SE Texas into SW Louisiana https://t.co/tW4KeGdBFb pic.twitter.com/H6P6ZJQA4c— NHC Atlantic Ops (@NHC_Atlantic) August 29, 2017
President Donald Trump, moving to expedite federal disaster assistance, issued a federal emergency declaration on Monday for five parishes in south-west Louisiana.
Major Aaron Duplechin said the Louisiana Army National Guard had deployed 19 trucks and four boats to Calcasieu Parish, in addition to helping evacuate the Coushatta Indian Reservation near Kinder.
