At least 3 killed, thousands rescued in Louisiana floods

BATON ROUGE, La. — As the floodwaters swal- lowed Lyn Gibson’s twostory home, she hacked away on a hole near the roof, desperately trying to get to safety.

She used a saw, a screwdriver and her feet, knocking her way through wood, vinyl and sheet rock.

“I just kept picking and hitting and prying until I could get a hole big enough,” the slightly-built, 115-pound woman said. “I would saw for a while. I’d kick at it for a while.”

Eventually, she made it out of her Tangipahoa Parish home with her dogs, and they were all rescued by National Guard soldiers on a boat. It was one of thousands of rescues after a deluge dropped more than a foot of rain on parts of Louisiana, submerging roads, cars and homes.

At least three people were killed across the state.

In another dramatic moment, two men on a boat pulled a woman from a car that was almost completely underwater, according to video by WAFB. The woman, who is not initially vis- ible on camera, yells from inside the car: “Oh my god, I’m drowning.”

One of the rescuers, David Phung, jumps into the brown water and pulls the woman to safety. She pleads with Phung to get her dog, but he can’t find it. After several seconds, Phung takes a deep breath, goes underwater and resurfaces with the dog.

Both the woman and dog appeared to be OK.

Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards declared a state of emergency, calling the floods “unprecedented” and “historic.” He and his family were even forced to leave the Governor’s Mansion when chest-high water filled the basement and electricity was shut off.

“That’s never happened before,” the governor said.

During an aerial tour, a reporter saw homes in parts of Tangipahoa Parish that looked like little islands among flooded fields.