At least four people have died in Louisiana this week after the state was hit with torrential rain and flash floods, the Louisiana Department of Health reported on Wednesday (May 19). One of the many people who witnessed the downpour and flooding was Baton Rouge native Boosie Badazz, who described the experience during an interview with local news outlet WBRZ 2.
“I didn’t expect this, but it’s crazy out here. You know, it’s flooding everywhere,” Boosie said outside of the Baton Rouge Metropolitan Airport, which has served as a base for flood relief efforts in the area this week.
“I’ve been riding in the middle lanes ‘cause when you ride in the outside, the puddles [are] too big and you can’t see,” he added.
Boosie explained that he returned to the area to organize a birthday party for his daughter.
“It’s been raining 24 hours straight, so it kinda messed it up,” he said of the party. “But I was happy to be back here.”
“I was here for [Hurricane] Katrina; it’s not on that magnitude, but… I don’t like to see a lot of homeless people [stuck] in the airport. I got a heart, too,” he added.
According to CNN, water rescues took place in Louisiana’s capital region on Tuesday (May 18) and more than 250 people have been evacuated in East Baton Rouge Parish.
Heavy rain is expected to continue in the south-central U.S. today (May 20), resulting in more flood warnings in Texas, Louisiana and parts of Oklahoma and Arkansas.
Along with the heavy storming, tornado watch warnings also rang out in parts of Louisiana and Texas earlier this week. Baton Rouge Mayor-President Sharon Weston Broome declared a state of emergency in the area on Tuesday after 13 inches of rain fell and more than 16,000 residents were left without power.
See Boosie’s interview with WBRZ 2 below.