Rescue crews in Louisiana search for residents stranded by Hurricane Ida
Rescue crews in Louisiana are making as many house calls as possible as requests for rescues continue to pour in after Hurricane Ida barreled into the state this weekend.
Roughly 760,000 people are either without water or under a boil water advisory and nearly a million remain without power. Long lines are forming for critical supplies like food and gasoline in sweltering temperatures. In New Orleans, crowds and cars lined up for a chance to get fuel.
"I've been here since 10 o'clock. It's 2:30… Four and a half hours," one resident told CBS News' David Begnaud.
Hurricane Ida caused a widespread food shortage. Hours before food was even handed out to residents, a line of cars wrapped around neighborhoods. Thousands of people across Southeast Louisiana are in need of some kind of assistance.
"Many of the life-supporting infrastructure elements are not present, they're not operating right now," Governor John Bel Edwards said.
St. John the Baptist Parish Sheriff Mike Tregre told CBS News that his department keeps getting requests for welfare checks from worried family members ,including a son in New Jersey. He wants to know if his dad, 77-year-old John Moore, who lives in LaPlace and has Parkinson's disease, is okay.
Tregre sent some members of his department to go check on him personally after the Cajun Navy and National Guard had trouble making contact with him due to debris in the roadway. They found Moore home alone with his dog Nixon.
"We're with the sheriff's office. Your son is worried about you because he hasn't heard from you," an officer said.
"I'm worried about me too, thank you so much," Moore replied.
His home had been damaged by Ida and he had no water, no food, no electricity and no fuel in his generator.
"You know, I tried to be by myself. But at 77, it's hard," Moore told Begnaud. Officers were able to convince Moore that it was not safe for him to stay in his home. But before they left, Officer Joshua Matherne folded an American flag that he found on Moore's bedroom floor.
"Apparently this was his father's flag, he was a World War II veteran. Kinda felt wrong to leave it hanging on the ground," Matherne said. Lieutenant Jake Boudreaux decided it was safer for Moore to go to the hospital and as he sat on the stretcher, they handed him that flag.
Moore's dog Nixon was taken to a local emergency operation center because dogs are not allowed at the hospital. Officers said the dog will be reunited with Moore when he is discharged.