Listen to this article
By Jon Kalahar –
Due to historic rainfall across southern Louisiana and parts of Mississippi thousands of people are without homes and The Salvation Army of Greater Baton Rouge’s campus is among the structures damaged.
Resources from across the Alabama, Louisiana, and Mississippi Division including canteens, cleanup kits, hygiene kits and food and water will begin to flow into the affected areas once the water level begins to drop.
“We have a good idea where we will be sending our resources at this point but because of the high water only rescue units and rescue personnel are allowed into those areas,” said Major Ed Binnix, Incident Commander.
For the moment, even as rains have lessened, flood waters continue to rise.
The Louisiana governor’s Office of Homeland Security and the Mississippi Emergency Management Agency reports twenty-five parishes in Louisiana and four counties in Mississippi have emergency declarations due to damage from the heavy rain and flooding over the last two days. At least 12,000 people have had to take refuge in shelters—which in some cases have themselves been inundated—as a consequence of the record-breaking flooding.
“We have canteens and personnel ready to respond once we are given the okay from parish and state officials,” said Major Binnix. “We know the need will be great, but we stand ready to provide food, hydration and emotional and spiritual care.”
Southern Territory personnel are scheduled to arrive today to assess damage to the Baton Rouge Corps offices and shelter caused by the floodwaters.
