David Phung, 27, was captured on video jumping into floodwater to save a woman and her dog from drowning in a sinking car. The video, taken during the August flood, had 4 million views by September.
At the Baton Rouge River Center, volunteers worked 12-hour shifts to meet the needs of thousands of people displaced by the destructive flood. And online, a Facebook group started during the flood saved thousands of people. Now its members are giving back.
These are some of the stories to emerge from Louisiana’s Great Flood of 2016, as told in the cover story in the current issue of 225. The flood barely resonated nationally, and what did appear on TV and in headlines was only a small fraction of what happened during the 1,000-year rain event.
“What the rest of the country didn’t know was that while the water was still rising, Baton Rougeans acted immediately to help each other,” reads the 225 cover story. “People whose homes didn’t flood open them up to dozens of strangers. Ordinary citizens became first responders, movie studios became shelters and recreational boats become emergency vehicles. Everyday became people heroes.”
Read the full cover package, which includes features on Atmosphere Aerial’s use of drones to document the flood damage; on members of the Cajun Navy being reunited with those they saved, including a video; on how two local families saved a 94-year-old evacuee; and on irreplaceable items Baton Rougeans salvaged from the flood.
