The smell of muddy water hung heavy in the air as people began sorting through waterlogged belongings and ripping out carpets today in flood-wracked south Louisiana, which now faces a long-term challenge of how to house thousands of displaced people.
As The Associated Press reports, even as the water receded in some areas, it was rising in other communities downstream, sending people fleeing to shelters.
Officials painted a stark picture of the crisis: an estimated 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. More than 110 state highways remained closed today, along with even more local roadways.
Amid scattered reports of looting, Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards says parishes with widespread damage were being placed under curfew as of Tuesday night.
Residents and business owners in the town of Albany repeatedly noted that the area had never flooded before—and flood insurance wasn’t required.
As the water receded, 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.
Some businesses already have placed huge garbage bins out front to hold ruined inventory and soggy debris. In residential areas a powerful stench wafts off huge piles of sodden garbage, soaked upholstery and carpets and discarded appliances.
Chris Bankston was with workers mucking out his family-owned auto parts store today. He says his father opened the business nearly 70 years ago. Water had never gotten within 200 yards of his business until the weekend, he says.
In the town of Sorrento, James Lane was getting to work cleaning his house—something familiar to him from Hurricane Katrina in 2005.
“I can’t even think about what to do, just got to go with it as it comes in,” Lane says. “We actually lost everything in Katrina, came here 10 years later, lost everything again.”
Officials have been going house to house to ensure everyone was accounted for. They also searched countless cars caught in the flooding.
“I don’t know we have a good handle on the number of people who are missing,” the governor says.
