st. john s parish is really a concern right now as we are dealing with five inch per hour rates of rainfall. that is dramatic and it will be monumental flooding across this area. just checking lake pontchartrain new orleans getting a bit of a break but we are seeing that lake rise about four feet just in the last ten hours. that is going to allow the storm surge to really be a problem. wind gusts they are not really an issue across southwest louisiana and even baton rouge getting lucky at this hour but the bulk of the quadrant of the storm system sitting in new orleans. winds have calmed down in the last hour but we are still seeing gusts up to 59 miles per hour. with some isolated wind gusts up to about 80 miles per hour. power is still going to be an issue and i do want to say it is very muggy across this section of the country. people dealing with warm air in
water. they re not sure how many have sustained damage. fema has been prepared for this. they have water that will be distributed to louisiana and mississippi. 3.5 million meals. this is why officials tell you to be prepared for a natural disaster and have food and water in case you can t get out and there s not electricity or clean water coming to your home. speaking of which, we re heading to laplace. the concerns are very deep as to what s going on in our community. i spoke with a fleet captain for the navy, jodie bloodworth. he said overall there are over 7,000 requests for rescues. he describes it as very bad. st. john s parish says winds are trech rush. there are about 30,000 people in
coast and inland as well. they have activated 3,000 louisiana national guard, they have high water rescue vehicles that have been prestaged along with food and water and emergency supplies. despite the evacuation orders, others also worries that a lot of people stay, they didn t heed those warnings and they could be vulnerable if roads flood and homes flood and the one road in and out of grand isle was already under water this. we can show you some video from near st. john s parish where a number of streets are also underwater they are because a lake and severely its banks in that area earlier today, that s southwest. the bottom line is that there are issues and there will be issues associated with this storm even though it will be a weak category one when it hits. it s bringing a lot of rain and
as you can see, there has been enormous devastation in st. john s parish. that s not the only place that s been hard hit. we ve also season enormous damage in plaquemines parish and other parts of louisiana and mississippi. i want to commend everybody who s here in what they ve done in ensuring lives were saved. that although there was tremendous property damage, people were in a position to get out quickly and as you can see folks are on the ground clearing out the debris. making sure they re able to cover as rapidly as possible. i want to particularly thank fema and the state and local authorities because sometimes in the past we haven t seen the kind of coordination that is
it was like katrina all over again. people got used to the water coming. hnt govelieutenant governor what helped some parishes are hurting others. 14 and a half billion given to hurricane katerina is forcing storm surge into other areas that previously didn t have to deal with the flooding like what you saw there in st. johns parish. the few stations that are open are being maned by the national guard. the cameras were rolling an altercation happened a woman tried to cut in line and made people upset. louisiana attorney general s office is price gouging. another point to make is louisiana environmental protection agency has issued a waiver letting gas stations in