3 killed, thousands rescued in southeast Louisiana floods

(AP) — Emergency crews plucked motorists from cars stranded by high water along a seven-mile stretch of south Louisiana interstate, pulled others from inundated homes and waist-deep waters and braced for more of the dangerous work Sunday after conducting at least 2,000 rescues.

Pounding rains swamped parts of southeast Louisiana so that whole subdivisions and shopping centers appeared isolated by floodwaters, which have claimed at least three lives.

The governor toured flood-ravaged areas by helicopter later Saturday after rivers and creeks burst their banks and warned Louisiana residents it would be too risky to venture out even after the rains start to subside.

Elsewhere, rescues continued late Saturday, including missions by crews in high-water vehicles who pulled motorists from one swamped stretch of Interstate 12 between Baton Rouge and nearby Tangipahoa Parish.

Maj. Doug Cain, spokesman of the Louisiana State Police, said about 125 vehicles became stranded on the seven-mile stretch, prompting those rescues.

During an aerial tour, an Associated Press reporter saw homes in parts of rural Tangipahoa Parish that looked like little islands among flooded fields.

In the Livingston Parish city of Denham Springs, a suburb of Baton Rouge, entire shopping centers were inundated, only roofs of cars peeking above the water.

Though the governor's office said Saturday that more than 1,000 people had been rescued, that number appeared to at least double by the end of the day, when Livingston Parish Sheriff Jason Ard said 2,000 people in his parish alone had been rescued, and more people still await help.