More than 13 people from Alabama to Texas have died in August flooding. Louisiana caught the brunt of the damage as more than 30 inches fell in some parts of the state.
“It is way worse … more widespread” than even Hurricane Katrina, said Army National Guard Staff Sgt. Chad McCann, a member of Union Baptist Church in Deville, La., who made 80 airlift rescues after Katrina’s 2005 onslaught. In August, his helicopter crew made 48 rescues in and around Baton Rouge.
One victim was an elderly woman from Hinesville who died while saving a male toddler. Two people walking by heard the child’s cries as he clung to a tree. But the woman who saved him had already drowned.
Floodwaters have damaged an estimated 60,000 homes, and 100,000 people have applied for federal assistance.
Southern Baptist Disaster Relief has mobilized teams from Alabama, Arkansas, Mississippi, Missouri, Oklahoma, Texas and Tennessee to assist in Louisiana with mass feeding, cleanup and recovery, and other services. Samaritan’s Purse is recruiting volunteers for their response efforts.
Pray for the people of Louisiana as they recover from flooding and for the work of Christian disaster response ministries as they render aid.
Fox News: Deadly storm system leaves La. in shambles, threatens new flooding in Illinois
NBC: Louisiana Flooding Far From Over Despite Expected Respite From Rain
Baptist Press: Flood relief to extend ‘as far as the eye can see’
Samaritan’s Purse: Floods Overwhelm Parts of Louisiana and Mississippi