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CNN Live At Daybreak

Allison Remnants Flood Coastal Louisiana

Aired June 12, 2001 - 07:30   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL LIN, CNN ANCHOR: Coastal Alabama is just one of the areas in the south flooded by Tropical Storm Allison. The state is getting back to normal, now, but what's left of the storm is making its way through Georgia and the Carolinas, leaving behind at least 20 people dead and heavy damage.

COLLEEN MCEDWARDS, CNN ANCHOR: And a lot of that damage is in Louisiana, where the storm dropped up to two feet of rain and killed one person, and Jennifer Huntley of CNN affiliate WWL is covering the flood story in New Orleans.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JENNIFER HUNTLEY. WWL-TV REPORTER (voice-over): After a tumultuous week of thunderstorms, the skies clear and the sun comes up in Lafourche Parish; a sign that no matter how bad things get, there's always another day.

LIZ BOUDREAUX, CHOCTAW, LOUISIANA RESIDENT: We're making the best of it. We're making the best of it. Just out here trying to keep everything that we can dry.

HUNTLEY: The clean-up begins. Residents come out of their homes and survey the damage. The week of on and off rain from the remnants of Allison has done a number on these towns along the bayou, where neighborhoods have turned into lakes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We've got three pumps going trying to keep the water out of our house.

HUNTLEY: Folks here have a fighting spirit. Residents like Matt Duet, who was up all night while the rain fell, fighting to keep his parents' Choctaw home dry.

MATT DUET, CHOCTAW, LOUISIANA RESIDENT: Coming in fast, seeping through the sandbags. We're just hoping it goes down, you know.

HUNTLEY: So far, he's succeeded. But for him and many others, there's still work to be done.

(on camera): Even though the rain has stopped, residents here aren't quite in the clear just yet. Here on West Camilia Drive, there's about two feet, still, of water, and residents continue to fill sand bags behind me to try to keep the levee strong and prevent more water from rushing in.

ROBERT JONES, THIBODAUX, LOUISIANA RESIDENT: The battle still hasn't been won yet. We have water about 2 1/2 to 3 feet in the back that needs to be pumped out. But it will take a while for all that to come and hope that Mother Nature cooperate with us.

SHERIFF CRAIG WEBRE, LAFOURCHE PARISH, LOUISIANA: If a levee breeches and it can't be repaired, all of a sudden you've got millions of gallons of water that's going to come into this area, and raise the water level several feet, I'm sure.

HUNTLEY (voice-over): The threat of rain no longer the main concern, now the fight is on to save neighborhoods; a struggle to keep the remnants of Allison from causing any more devastation.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MCEDWARDS: That was Jennifer Huntley of CNN affiliate WWL in New Orleans.

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