SHREVEPORT, La. — Water levels continued to rise Friday as torrential rains hammered the northern part of Louisiana.
In Red Chute Bayou, it was expected that the water would overtop the levees Friday morning.
Three people died in the state with thousands of homes and businesses inundated with water.
Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards authorized the activation of as many as 750 Louisiana National Guard troops to assist people and parishes swamped by the flood "and more if we need them."
Edwards declared states of emergency in 22 parishes and says more are likely.
"We're moving resources as fast as possible," Edwards said Thursday during a news conference at the Governor's Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness headquarters in Baton Rouge.
Homeland Security Chief Jim Waskom said his agency doesn't yet have a detailed damage assessment, but confirmed the number of structures that have been flooded are easily in the thousands "and rising," he said.
Waskom said he is working with Federal Emergency Management Administration already on the ground in Louisiana to determine whether or not the state will qualify for federal aid, although the process in lengthy.
Edwards planned to tour some of the hardest-hit areas Friday. But as of Friday morning he was grounded in Baton Rouge because of the weather.
The Bossier City region near Shreveport has taken the brunt of the storm that began saturating Louisiana late Tuesday. Mandatory evacuations have been enforced by rescuers using large trucks able to negotiate the high waters.
On Thursday evening, the Bossier Sheriff's Office said two additional subdivisions in south Bossier City and the area immediately around and adjacent to Louisiana Downs were placed under a mandatory evacuation.
In northeastern Louisiana, more than 20 inches of rain has flooded homes and businesses, shut down roads and left at least two people dead.
Monroe Police Detective Reggie Brown said a 7-year-old child died Thursday morning after a Wednesday evening car wreck in Monroe.
Brown said two children and three adults were traveling in a car that hit a water pocket, hydroplaned and struck a pylon.
The 9-year old child also suffered injuries in the crash and was taken to LSU Medical Center in Shreveport, where he is in critical condition.
Another motorist died there Wednesday night after a car was swept off the roadway by high water.
Scotty Robinson, Ouachita Parish Police Jury president, said the parish estimates more than 1,000 flooded houses.
Monroe resident Tonya Marilla said at her home, water was up to her waist.
"Water was in our house, and the guy from the fire department came and brought us here. It's been pretty good here so far," she said. "I'm just ready to go home."
In Bossier City some 3,500 homes were under a mandatory evacuation as a precaution because a bayou was approaching the top of its levee. Lt. Bill Davis of the Bossier Parish Sheriff’s Office said authorities used high-water vehicles to bring out about 1,000 people Thursday morning.
At least 45 people sheltered in the Bossier Civic Center where The American Red Cross provided bedding, hot food and showers to evacuees.
Bossier resident Tiffany Grayson has never experienced flooding of this magnitude.
"We couldn't drive our cars out. We woke up to a disaster," Grayson said. "We spent a day trying to get everything up high in the house and we really didn't pay attention to grabbing what we needed."
Grayson's family is one of many who don't have flood insurance.
"We are so worried; we don't have home owners insurance," she said. "We may lose everything we've got. My dad just passed away in February and that income is gone, so we need everything in that house."
Contributing: Greg Hilburn and Bob Lenox, The (Monroe, La.) News-Star; Lex Talamo and Segann March, The (Shreveport, La.) Times; Melissa Gregory, The (Alexandria, La.) Town Talk; The Associated Press.
