iStock/Thinkstock(NEW ORLEANS) — The rain from Harvey is not only devastating Texas, it’s also pounding Louisiana, and the state’s governor, John Bel Edwards, is warning that “the worst is likely to come for us here.”
Harvey “does remain a named tropical storm and it’s going to drop an awful lot of rain,” Edwards said at a news conference Monday. “We do have a long way to go with this particular storm.”
This comes after Harvey tore through the Houston area this weekend, causing several deaths, forcing evacuations and wiping out homes. About 20 to 40 inches of rain has fallen in the Houston area and additional rain is forecast for this week. The National Weather Service deemed the flooding “epic and catastrophic” and Texas Gov. Greg Abbot the aftermath of Harvey will likely be “horrific” and will leave behind a mess that will “take years” to rebuild.
Edwards said 40 people from Louisiana’s Department of Wildlife are in Texas helping with rescue efforts. Edwards said Louisiana has not received a specific request from Texas or Houston for Louisiana to take in evacuees, but if Texas needs Louisiana’s help to shelter displaced residents, Shreveport will be the location, and he said shelters are ready.
ABC News meteorologists say current radar shows heavy rain remaining near Houston and heavy rain bands moving across southern Louisiana. ABC News meteorologists say Harvey is expected to make its third landfall east of Galveston on Wednesday morning and continue to move into northern Louisiana and southern Arkansas by the end of the week.
Flash flood watches are in effect for eastern Texas, including Houston, and stretch across southern Louisiana toward New Orleans and parts of southern Mississippi. Southern and western parts of Louisiana could see 10 to 15 more inches of rain, meteorologists say.
Edwards said Cameron Parish is under an evacuation order but there has not been significant structural damage reported in Louisiana at this time.
Edwards said that President Donald Trump approved an emergency declaration, and shortly after the governor’s news conference, he tweeted that he spoke with Trump and “thanked him for the quick response to our emergency declaration request.”
Just spoke with @POTUS @realDonaldTrump and thanked him for the quick response to our emergency declaration request. #lawx #lagov
— Gov John Bel Edwards (@LouisianaGov) August 28, 2017
The governor added that once the storm has passed Louisiana, the state can shift resources to helping Texas.
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