'Act of God': Ruinous flooding catches Louisiana off guard

(AP) — An act of God is how some are describing it, a catastrophic 48-hour torrent of rain that sent thousands of people in Louisiana scrambling for safety and left many wondering how a region accustomed to hurricanes could get caught off guard so badly.

In areas south of Baton Rouge, people were filling sandbags, protecting their houses and bracing for the worst as the water worked its way south.

More than 11,000 people were staying in shelters, with a movie studio and a civic center that usually hosts concerts and ballets pressed into service.

Unlike in a hurricane, when shelters are established well in advance by parish governments and the Red Cross when the threat becomes obvious, shelters for those driven from their homes by the flooding were set up more haphazardly by parish officials.

Marc and Crystal Matherne and their three children loaded up their cars with their three dogs and drove out of their flooded Baton Rouge neighborhood Sunday before the water got too deep to pass.

More than anything else, I'm proud that Louisianians are taking care of their own and people are being neighbors to one another, he said, stressing that search and rescue operations were still ongoing.

Lt. Davis Madere of the Louisiana Department of Wildlife & Fisheries, who spent days rescuing people and their animals, said the floodwaters are a potential minefield of submerged vehicles, fences and mailboxes that can trip up boats.

The slow-moving, low-pressure system moved into Texas, but the National Weather Service warned there is still a danger of new flooding, as the water works its way toward the Gulf of Mexico.