Shreveport Isaac Evacuees Say They Weren’t Warned in Time

Isaac flood victims staying in Shreveport told KEEL News they weren't warned by local authorities to evacuate until they were waist deep in water.  And one man, who looked to be at least six feet tall, said the water was up to his chest before they were evacuated.

The two are among more than 1,110 evacuees being sheltered at the Sam's Club building on Jewella Avenue. And they say they don't know when they'll be able to return home.

"Water, four feet up to my waist, I lost pretty much everything," said a woman from LaPlace, near New Orleans. She is here with seven people - four are her grandchildren.  But she says she's thankful for the accommodations, and the hospitality from Shreveport residents.

The number of flood victims fleeing from southern Louisiana was expected to reach at least 1,500 today as at least six buses arrived early today.

They didn't tell us to leave. It was like two days later they told us to leave. (Really? You mean after the floods they told you to leave?) Yeah. The parish president didn't tell us anything. She didn't tell us to evacuate or anything.

But according to CNN, there were some who ignored evacuation warnings. CNN reported the storm surge from Lake Pontchartrain was quick and not what authorities had expected.

And it was unusually bad in LaPlace,  where folks were being rescued from floods that rose at lightning speed.  CNN reports a couple hundred were rescued.

Good Samaritans from churches here are helping the Shreveport evacuees by handing out needed goods.

Susan Parker was among a group of some 20 people from the Seventh Day Adventist Church in Shreveport helping unload a truck full of clothes and other items. "This truck was loaded up in King, Texas, and it's got clothes, and blankets and toiletries, washcloths, towels, stuff like that to help 'em out."

Parker said the flood victims came with nothing. "It's packaged up. For their clothes, they have underwear, and the pants, shirts, all the essentials."

In contrast, the Red Cross shelter at LSU-Shreveport closed at 2 pm today after the last family departed for home.  That's where some 90 or so stayed in the Physical Education building.

Michelle Davison with the Red Cross says now the shelter in Ruston at Trinity United Methodist Church is down to only two people and it's set to close Saturday.

Both shelters will remain on standby, though, just in case additional shelters are needed as a result of flooding in the southern Louisiana. Davison says to locate loved ones or if you are an evacuee, visit the American Red Cross Safe and Well website at redcross.org.