Historic flooding leaves parts of Louisiana under water
BOSSIER CITY, La. -- In the South, rising floodwaters have claimed the lives of at least five people since torrential rains started Tuesday night.
A 6-year-old boy from Louisiana is among the dead. The storms won't break until Saturday.
Bossier City is under water.
A woman could be seen floating down the street on an air mattress -- one of dozens of evacuees in the area.
Thirty-five-hundred homes are under mandatory evacuation Thursday, but some residents are unable to get out.
Rescues crews are searching in the area, helping families get to higher ground.
Neighbors are pitching in, bringing sand bags to homes not flooded. Yet.
Across the red river from Shreveport, over 20 inches of rain have fallen in this area, washing away sections of this highway and prompting the assistance of the National Guard.
"Thirty years I've been here, it is probably epic, probably the worst," said Captain Mike Carman. "And with what we have coming in it is probably going to be more."
Among those rescued: the young, the old and the four-legged.
Swept in from the rivers, large carp fish could even be seen swimming all over sidewalks.
It's all part of an historic weather pattern, pushing tropical moisture into Louisiana, Arkansas, Tennessee and Texas, it's causing severe thunderstorms and excessive rainfall -- never seen before in March.
"It just came very fast, very sudden," said Stephen Hamm.
Hamm worries about what comes next in Bossier City.
"Everyone is pretty much prepared for a complete and total loss. Nobody on this street even has flood insurance because this never happens in this neighborhood," said Hamm.