Flood-hit Louisiana residents salvage what they can
GONZALES ( AP) — The heartbreaking task of sorting through waterlogged belongings and ripping out carpets and drywall kicked into high gear yesterday in floodwracked southern Louisiana as the state faces a long-term challenge of how to house thousands of displaced people.
But even as the water receded in some areas, it was rising in other places downstream, sending people fleeing to shelters.
Officials painted a stark picture of the crisis: at least 40,000 homes damaged and 11 people killed in some of the worst flooding in Louisiana history. More than 30,000 people have been rescued since Friday.
The smell of muddy water hung heavy in the air as people donned surgical masks and began the back-breaking job of ripping out soggy carpet, drywall and insulation. They cleared out spiders and cockroaches that had bubbled up through the sewer grates.
By noon Tuesday, more than two dozen volunteers had arrived at Rhonda Brewer’s Baton Rouge home, helping her take water-damaged belongings to the curb. Volunteers worked to remove wooden floor boards, sheet rock and insulation before the mold set in.
“The water was waist deep, so it’s iffy if I can take the sheet rock and insulation half way or have to go to the ceiling,” she said. “If we don’t make it in time, we trash it.”
In Livingston Parish, one of the hardest-hit areas with about 138,000 people, an official estimated that 75 percent of the homes were a total loss.
Officials from Livingston Parish were in Baton Rouge on Tuesday to talk to federal officials about getting some sort of temporary housing for their first responders — a sign of the housing crunch likely to come with so many people out of their homes for weeks and perhaps months.