USA | 3 killed, thousands rescued in Louisiana floods

Emergency crews worked through the night to rescue scores of south Louisiana residents from homes and stranded cars as deadly flooding continued to inundate large swaths of the region yesterday, three days after rain-swollen water levels began rapidly rising.
Mike Steele, spokesman for the Governor’s Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness, said there was an overnight spike in flood rescues in the eastern part of Baton Rouge. He said two nursing homes in that area were being evacuated.
Police also were rescuing people from dozens of cars that were stranded on a miles-long stretch of Interstate 12, which was closed from Baton Rouge to Tangipahoa Parish.
“It never slowed down last night,” Steele said yesterday. “For the last few hours, there has been just as much activity as at any point.”
Steele said the flooding that started Friday has damaged more than 1,000 homes in East Baton Rouge Parish, more than 1,000 homes in Livingston Parish, and hundreds more in other areas, including St. Helena and Tangipahoa parishes.
At least three deaths have been blamed on the flooding.