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BATON ROUGE, La., Aug. 18 (UPI) -- The death toll from historic flooding in Louisiana has risen to 13 and forecasts show rain could cause more problems for the state. Officials on Wednesday confirmed five deaths occurred in East Baton Rouge Parish, three died in Tangipahoa Parish, two in Livingston Parish, two in St. Helena Parish and one in Rapides Parish.
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"Heavy rain and flash flooding possible over portions of Texas, Arkansas and Louisiana," the National Weather Service said in a statement Thursday.
About 40,000 homes have been affected by flooding in the state caused by heavy rains last week. At least 70,000 people have registered for flooding assistance from the federal government.
Additional rain could make matters worse.
"The good news is it's not widespread, more hit and miss," NWS meteorologist Roger Erickson said. "The problem is there is nowhere for the water to run off. In the last couple of days, we've had to reissue flash flood warnings in areas that had been showing improvement."
Utility companies in the state are working to restore power to about 22,000 people, according to the Louisiana Public Service Commission. Some consumers may have to wait an indefinite amount of time as utility companies will have to go through a repair and permit process if structures were damaged heavily.
About 8,000 people are in shelters throughout Louisiana, where a state of emergency was declared and where disaster areas have been declared in about half of the state's parishes.
