LAFAYETTE, La. — Flooding is expected to continue through the weekend in southern Louisiana, and the National Weather Service has extended its flash-flood warning for seven parishes to 1:45 p.m. CT Saturday.
Across Louisiana, at least two people have died, a man in Zachary who slipped into a flooded ditch and another man trapped in a submerged pickup in St. Helena Parish. Another person in St. Helena Parish as been reported missing.
Parts of Lafayette Parish are forecast to receive an additional 5 to 10 inches of rainfall between midnight Friday and Saturday afternoon, according to a release from Lafayette Consolidated Government. Major flooding that won't subside until Wednesday evening is in the forecast.
"I've seen flooded roads I've never seen before," said spokesman Brooks David of the Louisiana State Police. In Scott, La., about 6 miles west of Lafayette, the mayor closed all city streets and said anyone driving could be cited; the Lafayette Parish Sheriff's Office said it responded to more than 270 calls for rescue in the past day.
Flood stage for the Vermillion River is 10 feet, the level recorded Saturday morning was 16.4 feet, and it is expected to rise to 18.4 feet, a 100-year flood level. Its highest recorded crest was 24.87 feet in 1940.
Lafayette received 10.39 inches of rain Friday after having less than a half inch of rain in early August, according to the National Weather Service. The Vermilion River, which was low before the rain started falling, has reversed course.
"The river's flowing upstream, which means it's flowing into the swamp," said Tom Carroll, Lafayette's public works director. In the 24 years he has worked in his building, Carroll said he has never seen the Vermilion River moving so fast in a northerly direction.
"I don't know that we've ever had this intensity and duration of rain," Carroll said. "Within the course of 6 to 8 hours, people got 10 inches of rain. No system around here can handle that type of rainfall."
Thousands of homes were without electricity Saturday.
In Youngsville, about 10 miles south of Lafayette, the Louisiana National Guard went house to house to rescue residents stranded in waist-high water.
"It happened so fast," said Dana Broussard, who carried a few possessions in plastic bags as she boarded a cargo truck with Noel Comeaux, two dogs and a guinea pig. "We had to climb out of the window to get out. We couldn't open the door or anything. The water ended up past my window. If we hadn't left, we could not have gotten out. And I don't have any flood insurance. What do I do? Who do I call?"
Mayor Ken Ritter said the city received 11 inches of rain in three hours Friday, and it didn't stop after that. Another 6 inches is forecast to fall Saturday.
The storms are part of a larger, westward-moving low-pressure system that won't taper off until Sunday or early next week.
Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards declared a state of emergency Friday and even the governor's mansion in Baton Rouge has a flooded basement that caused the governor's family to find accommodations elsewhere until the problem is fixed.
In a 24-hour period, Baton Rouge reported as much as 11.34 inches of rain fell compared with 2.34 inches at New Orleans’ international airport in Kenner. Meteorologist Mike Shields in the weather service's Slidell office said one of their weather observers reported 17.09 inches in Livingston.
The Comite River near Baton Rouge and Amite River near Denham Springs, both in Louisiana, were predicted to set record crests over the weekend. Forecaster Alek Krautmann said both rivers could flood many houses in suburban areas near Baton Rouge.
The Tickfaw River, just south of the Mississippi state line in Liverpool, La., was already at the highest level ever recorded, and that was at 9 a.m. Friday.
In southwest Mississippi, rescues occurred in Amite and Wilkinson counties.
Leroy Hansford, his wife and stepson were among those rescued near Gloster, Miss.
Hansford, 62, said waters from Beaver Creek, which is normally more than 400 feet away from his house, rose quickly overnight.
“We woke up and the water kept on coming,” Hansford said. “It came up to my waist.” His wife told Hansford that it’s the highest she’d seen the creek in the 48 years she has lived there.
In Crosby, Miss., more than 50 people flooded out of a neighborhood will be housed at a shelter in Natchez until at least Monday.
Contributing: Claire Taylor, Kris Wartelle and Seth Dickerson, The (Lafayette, La.) Daily Advertiser; The Associated Press. Follow The (Lafayette, La.) Daily Advertiser on Twitter: @theadvertiser
