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Saturday: Situation improving but still a concern in flooded areas

NEW ORLEANS – Water reached its peak in many of the flooded areas of the northshore early Saturday and was expected to slowly subside and when it does it's expected to show the affects of the devastation in the hardest hit areas.

While most of the warnings subsided, a flash flood watch remained for most of southeast Louisiana until Saturday afternoon. Some additional rain could still fall Saturday, but should be over later in the day and isn't expected to be as heavy.

In Tangipahoa Parish about six dozen people had to be rescued from homes with rising water. In parts of Covington, an estimated 50 people had to be taken from the hardest hit areas, which were listed as Savannahs, Covington Point and Ozone.

Water in some places on Boston Street in downtown Covington appeared to be several feet deep, but was starting to recede.

Heavy rains initially pounded the area Thursday night into the Friday morning hours, causing significant flooding in areas stretching from Hammond back to Folsom, Franklinton and down to Bogalusa. Over those 24 hours, several areas experienced from 10 to 17 inches of rainfall, saturating the ground and creating the conditions for extreme flooding on the Northshore.

“What we’re kind of transitioning from is this flooding from the rain to now river flooding, as it all drains into the rivers,” WWL-TV Meteorologist Dave Nussbaum said Friday evening. “So it’s really going to one extreme to the next extreme.”

Nussbuam says because the ground is already saturated, the rain finds its way to nearby streams and rivers, which in turn causes more flooding. Water from South Mississippi has now washed into Northern Tangipahoa parishes and is working its way southward into parts of St. Tammany Parish, he said.

Officials are keeping a watchful eye on the Bogue Chitto, Bogue Falaya, Tangipahoa and Tchefuncte Rivers.

“This is going to cause some significant record-breaking never-before seen flooding across part of the Covington area and heading south on I-12 and then south of I-12 all the down the Tchefuncte into Lake Ponchartrain,” Nussbaum said.

This weather system is part of a deep trough of low pressure and an upper level low sitting over part of Texas.

“We’re on the right side of that low so that brings up all this moisture form the Pacific Ocean and the Gulf of Mexico over top of Louisiana,” Nussbaum said. “A small line of storms developed back in Texas two days ago and slowly inched its way into our area starting Thursday afternoon and continuing until the current time frame.”

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