Ongoing rain and storms in south Louisiana have caused widespread flooding unlike some officials say they’ve ever seen before. Emelie Gunn reports…:

CUT 1 (36) “I’m Emelie Gunn”

Entergy reports over 7-thousand outages in Louisiana. A flash flood warning has been issued for Tangipahoa, Washington, Livingston, St. Helena, St. Landry, Vermillion, and Lafayette parishes until Monday.

A 68-year-old man from Zachary drowned today while he was trying to escape floodwaters at his home, according to reports. Adam Einck with the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries says in just 6 hours agents have rescued over 100 people and pets, and the efforts are ongoing:

Cut 13 (10)  “as we speak right now”

Einck says there is a stalled out system sitting on top of us and it’s producing lots of rain in a short amount of time.

Frank Reviette with the National Weather Service in Slidell, says unfortunately, this system is churning very slowly, and the rain will continue into Saturday. Almost the entire bottom half of the state is under a flash flood watch through Saturday evening. He says there might be some slight progression to the northwest into the weekend…:

CUT 9 (08) “away from the region”

Governor John Bel Edwards has declared a state of emergency.

More flooding is expected tonight and the flash flood watch remains in effect for almost the entire bottom half of the state through tomorrow evening. East Feliciana Parish OEP Deputy Director Jim Parker says they are doing everything they can to help residents.

CUT 6 (08) “fast”

Frank Reviette with the National Weather Service in Slidell, says the main issue with this area of low pressure is that the bottom half is churning in the Gulf of Mexico which is adding fuel to the storm. He says they’ve been getting reports of street flooding and water in homes…:

CUT 8 (12) “close attention to that”

Reviette says, unfortunately, this system is churning very slowly, and the rain will continue into Saturday.

The federal government has ruled that marijuana will remain a Schedule I drug. Parks Senator Fred Mills says this ruling should not affect Louisiana’s ability to dispense medical cannabis to the patients who need it. But he says he is not pleased with the feds’ decision.

Cut 11 (08) “it right”

Mills says Louisiana is on track towards dispensing the drug to patients, and they should have the regulations in place by next year.

State Superintendent of Education John White is proposing a plan to lawmakers that would allow the voucher students that were placed on a waiting list, to go ahead and enroll in the nonpublic school. He says they will know by August 22nd whether or not the private schools who participate in the voucher program will agree to this plan, but he expects most will.

cut 17 (07) “is significant”

Ongoing rain is causing widespread flooding across the southern part of the state. Forecasters are urging residents to watch for rising streams, creeks and other low lying areas. East Feliciana OEP Deputy Director Jim Parker says this is the worst flooding he’s ever seen.
Cut 5 (10) “getting stranded.”

Weather experts says the Florida Parishes are getting hit especially hard.

A 68-year-old Zachary man has drowned after trying to escape his rapidly flooding home. Frank Rivette with the National Weather Service in Slidell says southeast Louisiana received a ton of water in only a couple hours.
CUT 7 (08) “in some of that area”

State emergency officials are urging people in flood prone areas to evacuate to avoid needing rescue.

State Superintendent of Education John White has proposed a plan to allow voucher students placed on a waiting list to still enroll in a nonpublic school. White says this would get all 362 kids waiting, into the private school of their choice. He says the money the state pays for the voucher students is basically the same as if the child attended a public school.
Cut 16 (05) “…financially.”

He says they will know by August 22 if the private schools who participate in the voucher program will agree to these new terms.

The DEA announces marijuana is will remain a schedule I drug under federal law. Louisiana along with 24 other states have legalized medical marijuana. Author of the legislation to legalize medical cannabis Parks Senator Fred Mills says he isn’t worried because they planned for this when writing the bill.
Cut 10 (10) “Schedule II”

Governor John Bel Edwards has issued a State of Emergency as severe weather across the southern part of the state is causing historic flooding. Weather experts are saying this is similar to tropical storm rains without the wind. In East Baton Rouge, Central Mayor Jr. Shelton says one of the biggest problems is everything keeps changing….
Cut 4 (08) “we can.”

Entergy reports about 75-hundred people are without power.

Reports says a 68-year-old Zachary man drowned today while trying to escape his flooded home. Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries Spokesperson Adam Einck says a stalled out system is right on top of us producing a lot of rain in a short period of time. He says they’re urging people who are prone to flooding to leave to avoid needing rescue.
cut 14 (10) “get out”

The Drug Enforcement Administration says marijuana will stay a schedule 1 drug. This leads to concern as to what will happen in Louisiana along with 24 other states that have legalized medical marijuana. Author of Louisiana’s legalization legislation Parks Senator Fred Mills says this ruling should not affect Louisiana’s ability to dispense medical cannabis to the patients who need it. But he says he is still not pleased with the feds’ decision.
Cut 11 (08) “it right”

State Superintendent of Education John White is proposing a plan to lawmakers that would allow the voucher students that were placed on a waiting list, to go ahead and enroll in the nonpublic school. He says the schools would agree to accept the potential of a small payment of $100 from the state per child for the year…:
CUT 15 (11) “public schools”

Police and fire stations throughout southeastern Louisiana are offering sandbags to those affecting by the heavy rains. Schools, state offices, and businesses are closed today in many southern parishes. In east Baton Rouge Parish, Central Mayor Jr. Shelton says they had over 10 inches of rainfall in just 6 hours.

Cut 3 (09) “new territory now”

Entergy has reported 95-hundred outages.

A 68-year-old man from Zachary drowned today while he was trying to escape floodwaters at his home, according to reports. Adam Einck with the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries says in just 6 hours agents have rescued over 100 people and pets, and the efforts are ongoing:

Cut 13 (10)  “as we speak right now”

According to the Drug Enforcement Administration, Marijuana will remain a Schedule I drug under federal law, which has many people asking what will happen in the 25 states that legalized medical marijuana. Don Molino has more…

CUT 2 (30)  “I’m Don Molino”

State Senator Troy Brown has issued a statement in response to Governor John Bel Edwards and others calling for the senator’s resignation following two domestic abuse arrests in less than a year. Brown characterized those calling for him to resign as “political opportunists” who pretend they are moral enough to cast the first stone. He emphasized that he will not resign from office.

Ongoing rain and storms in south Louisiana have caused widespread flooding unlike some officials say they’ve ever seen before. Emelie Gunn reports…:
CUT 1 (36) “I’m Emelie Gunn”

Adam Einck with the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries says they’ve rescued over 100 stranded people and pets…:
CUT 1 (07) “ongoing”

Marijuana will remain a Schedule I drug under federal law, the DEA announced Thursday – so what does this mean for Louisiana’s medical cannabis law? Parks Senator Fred Mills authored the medical marijuana legislation and says there is no chance the state will face any repercussions from the federal government because of this ruling:
cut 12 (10) “in Louisiana”
Mills says Louisiana is on track towards dispensing the drug to patients, and they should have the regulations in place by next year.

Much of the rain has begun flushing towards Lafayette and into the Acadiana region. Officials in Vermillion Parish are asking those that are prone to flooding to consider leaving now to avoid the need for rescue.

Governor John Bel Edwards has declared a state of emergency as severe
storms continue to cause widespread flooding across south Louisiana. Frank
Reviette with the National Weather Service in Slidell, says this is a very
slow moving system and, unfortunately, we’re looking at more rain and
flooding through Saturday. He says there might be some slight progression
to the northwest into the weekend…:
CUT 9 (08) “away from the region”
East Feliciana Parish OEP Deputy Director Jim Parker says they’ve gotten
hundreds of calls from stranded people looking for help and they are doing
everything they can to help residents…:
CUT 6 (08) “fast”
Officials in Vermilion Parish are asking those who live in flood prone
areas to consider temporary evacuation now in order to avoid the need for
rescue.

The Drug Enforcement Administration announces marijuana will remain a
Schedule I drug under federal law, which begs the question as to what will
happen in Louisiana and the 24 other states that legalized medical
marijuana. Parks Senator Fred Mills authored Louisiana’s medical marijuana
legislation, and he says he’s not worried because they planned for this
when they wrote the bill…:
cut 10 (10) “Schedule II”
Mills says this ruling should not affect Louisiana’s ability to dispense
medical cannabis to the patients who need it.

State Senator Troy Brown has issued a statement indicating that he does not
plan to step down despite calls by state leaders to do so because of his
domestic abuse arrests. He characterized recent calls for him to resign as
“chatter from political opportunists” who pretend they are moral enough to
cast the first stone. He says he’s made mistakes for which I am deeply
sorry, but my personal issues are just that – personal.

Several police and fire stations are offering sandbags to those residents being inundated by rain today. Schools, offices and businesses in many south Louisiana Parishes are closed today, and thousands are without power. Weather experts say this is similar to a tropical storm rain-wise, but the wind factor is not there. In East Baton Rouge Parish, Central Mayor Jr. Shelton says one of the biggest problems is that the issues related to these storms are ever changing…:
CUT 4 (08) “we can”
Frank Reviette with the National Weather Service in Slidell, says they’ve been getting reports of street flooding and water in homes…:
CUT 8 (12) “close attention to that”
The rain is not expected to end anytime soon so authorities are urging residents to stay home and off the roads if they can.

An officer-involved shooting left one suspect critically injured in Plaquemine. Halen Doughty has more…:
Cut 3 (30) “I’m Halen Doughty”

The American Cancer Society released their annual report on how each state is making progress on cancer fighting policies and Louisiana still has some work to do. ACS Director of Government Relations for Louisiana Lydia Kuykendal says we fall short big time when it comes to tobacco control:
Cut 1 (08) “cigarettes”