Southern Louisiana suffered devastating floods due to torrential rainfall that began on Friday, August 12. Two feet of rain inundated Louisiana over a 48-hour period and, days later, many homes and businesses are still under water. The Amite River rose 17 inches above flood level and was six times its normal height.

The floods in Baton Rouge were so severe that one couldn’t even tell where the river ended and the city started. “There are so many neighborhoods under water, even from the air you can’t tell where the actual river should be,” said Rob Marciano of ABC News. The floods have affected 40,000 homes and caused at least 11 deaths, with over 30,000 people rescued so far. There are more than 8,000 now-homeless people who have been relocated to crowded shelters. Thousands were forced to evacuate and/or have lost their homes, including the executive director of the Jewish Federation of Baton Rouge and many others in the Jewish community. Most of the evacuees have lost everything.

President Obama declared a federal emergency and signed the Louisiana Disaster Declaration, which ordered federal aid for the affected areas. The Louisiana Governor’s office said that more than 60,000 people have registered for disaster aid from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). The new Beit Chabad in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, launched a GoFundMe fundraising campaign to aid the thousands of flood victims. They are supplying food and clothing, as well as funding for temporary apartments or hotels while homes are fixed. More locally, the Jewish Federation of Northern New Jersey opened a flood-relief fund to help support the Baton Rouge community as they struggle to meet these urgent needs. Donations are desperately needed. Visit this link to donate: http://tinyurl.com/hn9hzda.

Rosy White is an intern at the Jewish Link of New Jersey. She is a rising senior at Reenas Bais Yaakov of Highland Park.