Dead body found in Louisiana floods

BATON ROUGE, La. — Officials say they have recovered the body of a woman from inside a flooded vehicle.

Casey Rayborn Hicks, a spokeswoman for the East Baton Rouge Sheriff’s Office, says witnesses say the woman was seen last night attempting to turn around in high water when her vehicle was swept away.

The woman’s name will be released following family notification.

That would appear to raise the death toll from the widespread flooding to five people but officials could not be immediately reached to confirm the numbers.

Gov. John Bel Edwards says more than 10,000 people are in shelters and more than 20,000 people have been rescued across south Louisiana because of widespread flooding.

The governor says the Baton Rouge River Center, a major events location in the capital city’s downtown, will be opened Sunday as a shelter to handle the large numbers of evacuees.

Edwards said President Barack Obama called him and said that “the people of south Louisiana are in his thoughts and prayers and the federal government will be a solid partner.”

The federal government has already declared a major disaster in four parishes following widespread flooding.

Edwards also said the federal government has declared a major disaster in the state following widespread flooding. Yhe initial federal declaration is for four parishes.

Those parishes are Tangipahoa, St. Helena, East Baton Rouge and Livingston.

Additional parishes may join the list as further damage assessments are made.

Torrential rains have caused widespread flooding in parts of southern Louisiana.