(15 Aug 2016) FOR CLEAN VERSION SEE STORY NUMBER: apus061301
Thousands of people in southern Louisiana hunkered down in shelters Monday, forced out of their homes by intense flooding that took many people by surprise.
Marc Mathern endured a sleepless night Sunday after noticing floodwater creeping into his neighborhood — an area that had never seen water before.
He and his family gathered up their dogs, cats and a few bags of belongings and fled— joining the more than 20,000 people rescued from their homes in a still-growing tragedy across southern Louisiana.
Now safe at a movie studio-lot-turned-shelter their worries weren't over, as they were packing up their car once again to see if they could check on their house.
Across southern Louisiana Sunday, residents scrambled to get to safety as rivers and creeks burst their banks, swollen from days of heavy rain that in some areas came close to two feet over a 48-hour period.
In high-water vehicles, boats and helicopters, emergency crews hurried to rescue scores of south Louisiana residents as the governor warned that it was not over.
More than 10,000 people are in shelters and the Baton Rouge River Center — usually reserved for major events — was sheltering evacuees.
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