While Milwaukee burned during race-based violence, thousands in Louisiana were forced to evacuate in the wake of historic rains that led to flooding.
More than 7,000 people have been rescued from their homes after massive floods swept across the state, and officials warned Sunday that even though the rain had subsided, dangers loomed.”It’s not over,” said Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards on Sunday. “The water’s going to rise in many areas. It’s no time to let the guard down.”… Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards — who declared a state of emergency —called the floods “unprecedented” and “historic.”The heavy rain began on Friday, with between 6 and 10 inches of rain falling on parts of southeast Louisiana. Several more inches fell Saturday, according to the National Weather Service.In a 24-hour period, Baton Rouge had as much as 11 inches, according to The Associated Press.
About 1,000 vehicles are trapped on Interstate 12.
The entire interstate is closed from Airline Highway in Baton Rouge to U.S. 190 in the Covington area because of flooding. State police are having a difficult time getting the people off the highway because flooding is too severe for rescue vehicles to reach them. But the water also isn’t widespread enough that rescue boats can be used to reach these people.”You have deep pockets of water. Then you have land,” said Louisiana State Police Superintendent Col. Mike Edmonson. “They have to move the boats through the water. Then, they have to pick them up to carry them across the land. It can be several hundred yards. So that’s what we are dealing with.”
In fact, the weather pattern associated with the deluge is so unique that it inspired the creation of a new term: “Landicaine“.
Yesterday on Twitter, Chip Knappenberger coined the term “landicane” to describe the low pressure center that has been gyrating over the northeastern Gulf of Mexico for days has now dropped very heavy precipitation over southeastern Louisiana.Dr. Roger Pielke Sr. has added in the exchange that his previous research points out that wet and marshy area (of which much of Louisiana Bayou is) can sustain tropical development. The only thing missing from this system is well defined rotation and an eye. Otherwise it might actually pass for a tropical storm.
The 3-D imagery gives you a sense of the epic scale of the storm.
Perhaps one of the most compelling videos from this natural disaster is a woman and her dog being rescued.
“Get my dog, get my dog,” she said, her frantic voice, choked with water. “Get my dog, now. I’ll go down.”“I can’t get the dog,” he said, as he felt inside the submerged convertible.He ducked under the water to reach into the car.“Maybe she’s gone,” said one of the men in the boat.“No — she better not be,” the woman said, her voice strained.The rescuer reemerged and exhorted: “I got your dog.”He held up the small, white, terrier-looking creature, turned to the victim and in a calmer, more exhausted but happy voice said: “Swim for the boat.”
Our thoughts and prayers go out to the people of Louisiana and Milwaukee, that they recover from both the man-made and natural disasters they are facing.
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