Cleaning up the mess and keeping an eye on the sky
Created: May 14, 2008 06:37 PM    
Modified: May 14, 2008 10:55 PM


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Caddo and Bossier parishes today cleaned up the mess from a day of flooding while keeping a wary eye on the weather forecast tonight.

Nearly 11 inches of rain fell Tuesday night and this morning. A band of heavy rain was expected late tonight and early Thursday.

"We're praying we don't get any more rain," Mayor Cedric Glover said after a news conference late this afternoon to outline the situation.

The area got a break around noon when the rain stopped, giving drainage systems a chance to channel away some of the runoff.

Glover said 125 homes in Shreveport flooded. Others in southern Caddo Parish had water in them as low-lying areas flooded.

Glover said damage assessment teams went to the affected areas. The city plans to ask for a disaster declaration that would make residents eligible for federal loans to make repairs to property.

Homeland Security officials said a big concern was flash flooding if more rains come.

A boil advisory remains in effect for part of south-central Shreveport due to a water main break on Mansfield Road. The main has been repaired but water-quality tests have not been finished.

The flooding came after a night of overwhelming rain.

Flood-prone Wallace Lake south of Shreveport was over its banks. In Shreveport, officials and residents were worried about Cross Lake, which was less than a foot from flood stage and was expect to go over flood stage before it stopped rising.

Lightning struck a Bossier City apartment complex, setting off a fire that damaged eight units.

At Normandy Village apartments near Mall St. Vincent in Shreveport's South Highland neighborhood, residences were flooded. The floodwaters swept a sports car into a drainage ditch. It was found downstream near First Baptist Church late this afternoon.

Residents in south Shreveport kept an eye on rain-swollen Bayou Pierre. In other parts of the city, some drainage ditches looked like river rapids .

 

 

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