Gov. Edwards has issued a state of emergency declaration due to flooding concerns. Deputy director of GOHSEP Casey Tingle said the agency is continuing to ramp up prep for local emergency managers as they begin to combat issues relating to river flooding from periods of excessive rainfall over the last few weeks, and more rainfall in the forecast.
“The Mississippi River is still rising in some places, and overall, all of our rivers are at increased levels during this period of time,” said Tingle.
Currently, eight parishes are included in the declaration including Beauregard, Bossier, Caddo, Calcasieu, Catahoula, Rapides, St. Tammany, and Washington. Tingle said residents should keep an eye on local alerts of road closures.
“Anytime there is a road closure, citizens should observe those notices and certainly not drive into flooded roads,” said Tingle.
Many regions saw record rainfall for the first few days of 2019. Tingle said while lately the weather has been better and provides a reason for some optimism, GOHSEP continues to closely monitor the situation.
“We’re available and coordinating with parishes as this unfolds. We’re hoping that the recent good weather has allowed some things to dry out and hopefully that trend continues,” said Tingle.
