It may have been 16 years ago, but it’s a reality that’s still fresh for those who lived through it. Families scaling their attic stairs to escape rising floodwaters in their homes, chopping holes through the ceiling to sit on their roofs and hope for a rescue as Hurricane Katrina raged.
And it appears a similar tragedy is unfolding as Hurricane Ida pummels south Louisiana.
People in Laplace are dialing 911 in need of help as water from a source unknown to them rises through their darkened homes. Unfortunately, help could still be hours away as the storm remains actively raining fury down upon the area.
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St. John Parish President Jaclyn Hotard said its heartbreaking but there’s nothing that can be done until the storm subsides.
“Right now, it’s just not safe to be out there in the elements,” Hotard told WWL-TV.
The low-lying areas of the parish are the most affected as the water from Ida simply has no place to go. Flood waters are supposed to drain into Lake Pontchartrain, but with the lake engorged by rainwater and storm surge, that leaves no room to accommodate the rain that’s trying to drain out of the Laplace streets.
Hotard’s hope is that shifting winds could change the equation in the night and that first-responders can make their way out in the morning to provide rescue and aid.
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