StoopTroup
8/30/2012, 01:23 PM
Tough situation for folks right now.
NEW ORLEANS – Officials scrambled on Thursday to evacuate up to 60,000 residents in a rural area as a lake dam threatened to break near the Mississippi-Louisiana border.
Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal (http://content.usatoday.com/topics/topic/People/Politicians,+Government+Officials,+Strategists/Governors,+Mayors/Bobby+Jindal) called the situation in the Tangipahoa Parish (http://content.usatoday.com/topics/topic/Tangipahoa+Parish) area "the biggest challenge" the state faced Thursday. Search and rescue teams were being assembled and two nursing homes were being evacuated.
"This could change very rapidly," Jindal said. "I do want to emphasize the situation is very fluid."
If the dam breaks, water would pour into the already swollen river, flooding low-lying areas downstream. Residents had less than 90 minutes to evacuate after the order was given, Jindal said at a briefing Thursday.
Aerial surveillance revealed the dam in Mississippi's Pike County had not broken but concerns were a breach could be imminent, Jindal said. Mississippi officials planned to purposely breach the dam Thursday afternoon but were still reviewing the situation and its impact on the area.
If the dam were to burst, Jindal said, residents could see floodwaters as high as 17 feet — similar to floods in 1983 and 1990.
McComb, Miss., Mayor Whitney Rawlings told WWL-TV there was a 50% chance the dam would fail.
"What they're doing now is saying, 'OK, this thing might go. People need to be moving now in case it does go.' And lord only knows if this thing holds or not," Rawlings said.
Amite Police Chief Jerry Trabona said officers were going from house to house along both sides of the river, notifying residents of the river threat.
"If they don't have a way out, we will bring them out of there," Trabona said.
Tangipahoa Parish President Gordon Burgess told the TV station that Gov. Bobby Jindal had agreed to send over buses to help with the evacuation.
When asked where the evacuees would be taken, Burgess said, "We don't know yet. I just got to get them out away from the river."
Meanwhile, the National Guard (http://content.usatoday.com/topics/topic/Organizations/Military+and+Paramilitary/National+Guard) was evacuating 3,000 people trapped by flooding in LaPlace, La., the governor's office said. Jindal said they were rescuing about 30 people an hour.
http://www.usatoday.com/weather/storms/story/2012-08-30/isaac/57434590/1
NEW ORLEANS – Officials scrambled on Thursday to evacuate up to 60,000 residents in a rural area as a lake dam threatened to break near the Mississippi-Louisiana border.
Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal (http://content.usatoday.com/topics/topic/People/Politicians,+Government+Officials,+Strategists/Governors,+Mayors/Bobby+Jindal) called the situation in the Tangipahoa Parish (http://content.usatoday.com/topics/topic/Tangipahoa+Parish) area "the biggest challenge" the state faced Thursday. Search and rescue teams were being assembled and two nursing homes were being evacuated.
"This could change very rapidly," Jindal said. "I do want to emphasize the situation is very fluid."
If the dam breaks, water would pour into the already swollen river, flooding low-lying areas downstream. Residents had less than 90 minutes to evacuate after the order was given, Jindal said at a briefing Thursday.
Aerial surveillance revealed the dam in Mississippi's Pike County had not broken but concerns were a breach could be imminent, Jindal said. Mississippi officials planned to purposely breach the dam Thursday afternoon but were still reviewing the situation and its impact on the area.
If the dam were to burst, Jindal said, residents could see floodwaters as high as 17 feet — similar to floods in 1983 and 1990.
McComb, Miss., Mayor Whitney Rawlings told WWL-TV there was a 50% chance the dam would fail.
"What they're doing now is saying, 'OK, this thing might go. People need to be moving now in case it does go.' And lord only knows if this thing holds or not," Rawlings said.
Amite Police Chief Jerry Trabona said officers were going from house to house along both sides of the river, notifying residents of the river threat.
"If they don't have a way out, we will bring them out of there," Trabona said.
Tangipahoa Parish President Gordon Burgess told the TV station that Gov. Bobby Jindal had agreed to send over buses to help with the evacuation.
When asked where the evacuees would be taken, Burgess said, "We don't know yet. I just got to get them out away from the river."
Meanwhile, the National Guard (http://content.usatoday.com/topics/topic/Organizations/Military+and+Paramilitary/National+Guard) was evacuating 3,000 people trapped by flooding in LaPlace, La., the governor's office said. Jindal said they were rescuing about 30 people an hour.
http://www.usatoday.com/weather/storms/story/2012-08-30/isaac/57434590/1