Local family sends aid to Louisiana flood victims

A Sidney family recently reached out to the community to bring relief to flood victims in Louisiana.

Retired army veteran Shawn Syverson and his wife and Sidney native, Lindsey Glassburn Syverson made the decision to collect items and send aid to Louisiana.

Syverson said he made several phone calls to multiple states looking for help in aiding with donations and all of them came back with the same request, they wanted donations in the form of money. Knowing flood victims lost everything and needed more then just money, Syverson decided he would take donations from Sidney and drive them to New Orleans.

"That's when I got the phone call back about Keller Williams realty with a truck that they were loading and that they would meet me in Shreveport Louisiana and take the donations to shelters in the disaster area,"Syverson said.

Syverson has been reaching out to the community for the past week in an effort to collect items to aid in the relief efforts in Louisiana, collecting items like clothes, cleaning supplies and even toys.

"We have had a great turn out," Syverson said. "We are thankful for the community and their support and their positivity."

Syverson grew up in in Assumption Parish, Louisiana. His family was personally affected by the torrential rainfall and subsequent flooding. Syverson said at his cousin's home in Louisiana, the flood waters went clear to their roof, causing 100 percent loss.

"I was born and raised in southern Louisiana and my family and neighbors lost everything during hurricane Andrew in 1993. With this new tragedy my family in Louisiana lost everything again," Syverson said.

Syverson said the flooding started the night of Thursday August 12 into the following Friday morning when the heavy rains overwhelmed the drainage.

This storm gave no warning Syverson said.

"My sister-in-law got evacuated from their home in the middle of the night, my two year old niece was with them and wasn't able to see her mom (my sister) for a week because the roads were closed between the two of them," he said.

Its been more than a week since a storm flooded much of the region surrounding Baton Rouge, in the River Parishes, and in adjacent Mississippi counties.

More than two-and-a-half feet of rain pummeled part of Livingston Parish on Tuesday. The hardest-hit part of the parish was Watson, where 31.39 inches fell between 6 a.m. and 9 p.m. the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said. Baton Rouge was pounded with more than 19 inches of rain during those same 15 hours.

According to reports from Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) flood waters killed 13 people and damaged approximately 60,000 homes.

In a press release Brad Kieserman, vice president, Disaster Services Operations and Logistics for the Red Cross said "The current flooding in Louisiana is the worst natural disaster to strike the United States since Superstorm Sandy."

According to a press release from the White House, President Obama declared 20 parishes for a major disaster for severe storms and flooding, a declaration that makes federal funding available to affected people. In addition to the 20 parishes, FEMA is conducting a joint Federal and State damage assessment in Assumption and St. Charles.

Federal assistance can include grants for temporary housing and home repairs, low-cost loans to cover uninsured property losses, and other programs to help individuals and business owners recover from the effects of the disaster.

While the waters have slowly receded in many areas, the forecast looks like flooding may continue. According to the National Weather Service, significant river flooding will persist into this weekend across portions of southern Louisiana as a result of the heavy rainfall that occurred late last week. Major flooding will mainly continue along portions of the Vermilion and Mermentau Rivers over the next several days. Moderate flooding will continue along the Amite and Calcasieu Rivers through the weekend.

Syverson is making the nearly 17 hour trip to Monroe, Louisiana traveling about 1,200 miles to meet the truck that will take the supplies to the flood victims on Thursday.

"We are doing this out of pure compassion for the victims, hopefully teaching others how to pay it forward," Syverson said.