Housing crisis looms in flood-stricken Louisiana

Death toll rises to 12

Residents survey the flood water on Old Jefferson Highway at Bayou Manchac in Prairieville, La., Tuesday. Rivers and creeks were still dangerously bloated in areas south of Baton Rouge as people filled sandbags there to protect their houses, bracing for the worst as the water worked its way south. In one area, Ascension Parish, officials said some small towns have already been inundated. - photo by Associated Press

W PTOPIX Deep South Wea Heal — Residents survey the flood water on Old Jefferson Highway at Bayou Manchac in Prairieville, La., Tuesday. Rivers and creeks were still dangerously bloated in areas south of Baton Rouge as people filled sandbags there to protect their houses, bracing for the worst as the water worked its way south. In one area, Ascension Parish, officials said some small towns have already been inundated. - photo by Associated Press

DENHAM SPRINGS, La. — With an estimated 40,000 homes damaged by deadly flooding, Louisiana could be looking at its biggest housing crunch since the miserable, bumbling aftermath of Hurricane Katrina a decade ago. People whose homes were swamped by some of the heaviest rains Louisiana has ever seen are staying in shelters, bunking with friends or relatives, or sleeping in trailers on their front lawns. Others unable or unwilling to leave their homes are living amid mud and the ever-present risk of mold in the steamy August heat.

Associated Press

Associated Press