Hurricane Harvey: Flooding Damages Several Louisiana Homes

LAKE CHARLES, LA — Lake Charles officials said heavy rains from Tropical Storm Harvey caused flooding that damaged several homes in the southwest Louisiana city.

Fewer than a dozen Lake Charles homes were damaged as of Monday afternoon, Mayor Nic Hunter said. As torrential rains continue to drench the region this week, that number will probably increase. Roughly 35 to 40 people were staying at a shelter opened by the city, Hunter said. Some were displaced from flooded homes.

Kent Kuyper, a Nation Weather Service meteorologist in Lake Charles, said about 5 to 10 inches of rain was expected to fall Monday in southwest Louisiana. (For more information on Tropical Storm Harvey and other Louisiana stories, subscribe to Patch to receive daily newsletters and breaking news alerts. If you have an iPhone, click here to get the free Patch iPhone app.)

Louisiana's Gov. John Bel Edwards said potential flooding posed a "dangerous situation," and he expects the potential for flood damage to increase.

Louisiana has offered to take in evacuees from Texas and give them shelter, Edwards said. The Louisiana National Guard has staged high-water vehicles and boats but so far hasn't had to deploy any on search and rescue missions in the southwestern part of the state.

About 20 people, including eight from Texas, spent the night in a shelter in Rapides Parish, the governor said.

A flash flood watch is in effect for all of southeast Louisiana, reaching into southwest Mississippi, and is expected to last through Thursday.

Harvey has caused catastrophic flooding in southeast Texas. And southwest Louisiana, where parts of some low-lying parishes were evacuated last week, is under a flash flood warning as heavy rain from the storm continues.

The heavy rains have New Orleans on edge.

Flash floods in sections of the city early this month during a heavy rain caught officials by surprise. They also revealed problems with the city's drainage pump system. Repairs and improvements are underway. But officials acknowledge that the system is still not operating at full capacity.

Mayor recommending everyone stay home tomorrow out of an abundance of caution @FOX8NOLA
— Kimberly Curth (@KimberlyCurth) August 28, 2017

BREAKING: Due to the threat of severe weather, all Orleans Parish School Board and Recovery School District schools will close tomorrow.
— Nancy DeCorte (@ndecortefox8tv) August 28, 2017

Harvey, the more fearsome hurricane to hit the U.S. in more than a decade, came ashore late Friday about 30 miles northeast of Corpus Christi, Texas, as a Category 4 storm. It has caused catastrophic flooding in Texas.

President Donald Trump issued a federal emergency declaration for Louisiana. Trump's emergency declaration on Monday initially covered five parishes: Beauregard, Calcasieu, Cameron, Jefferson Davis and Vermillion.

A White House statement says the action authorizes the Federal Emergency Management Agency to coordinate disaster relief efforts. The declaration also authorizes the federal government to cover 75 percent of costs of certain emergency protective measures.

Tornado and flash flood watches covered parts of southwest Louisiana. The National Weather Service radar for the Lake Charles area early Monday was lit up in orange and red where heavy rains from one of Harvey's outer bands streamed from the Gulf of Mexico onto the Louisiana coast.

The storm was centered on Matagorda Bay off the Texas coast and moving slowly southeast.

Tornadoes could also threaten southwest Louisiana, which was under a tornado watch Monday.

Photo credit: Rogelio V. Solis/Associated Press