Residents salvage belongings after Louisiana flood

Residents were cleaning up and trying to assess the scope of the devastation left by rains that overwhelmed rivers and sent them flooding into residential areas.

57-year-old Sonya Sims says, "Right now, in our neighbourhood it feels like we had an atomic bomb go off," she said.

Her family has owned her home in Denham Springs [a city of 10 000 east of the state capital Baton Rouge] for 65 years.

She expects it will be torn down.

The most cherished possession she saved were childhood photos of her two children, Sims said.

While many areas were drying out, the National Weather Service forecasted that all waterways would not fall below flood stage until as late as Friday. Rescue crews were still going to every home and flooded car they could reach, to check for bodies or survivors.

The confirmed death toll remained at 11 today.

In places where residents were able to return to their neighbourhoods, they were salvaging what they could and gutting their homes in a race against mould.

In Walker, a town of 6 000 people east of Baton Rouge, heaps of belongings were outside waterlogged homes.

Scrapbooks, television sets, furniture, dry wall, carpeting and insulation were strewn on front lawns.

President Barrack Obama has declared 20 parishes disaster areas freeing up federal money to aid victims.

More than 70 000 people had already registered for help.

The scope of the disaster meant the wait for home inspections alone could be days, if not weeks.

The American Red Cross launched a donation campaign for flood victims, and deployed 67 emergency response vehicles.

The Salvation Army was also collecting supplies and singer Taylor Swift donated $1 million, saying the disaster was "heartbreaking."