Scope of Louisiana's '1,000-Year Rain' Is Massive

The words "unprecedented" and "catastrophic" keep being used to describe Louisiana's flooding, and the danger isn't over yet. Though floodwaters are receding in some areas, residents in the southern part of the state face danger as water moves downstream toward the Gulf, reports NBC News. Some coverage:

• "The disaster unfolding here this week fits into a recent and staggering pattern in more than half-dozen states, where floods have rolled out at such a scale that scientists say they might be a once-every-500-or-1,000-year occurrence." The New York Times explores.
• The latest numbers: 11 dead, with the search for bodies continuing; 40,000 homes affected; 30,000 people rescued; 8,000 in shelters; and 60,000 have applied for FEMA aid, reports the AP. Authorities say it will be a while before they get a true handle on missing people.
• Another number: Between Aug. 8 and Aug. 14, enough rain fell to fill 10.4 million Olympic-size pools, nearly 7 trillion gallons. (Some areas got 31 inches of rain.) CNN looks at the numbers.

• "In Livingston Parish, just east of Baton Rouge, officials estimated that as many as 75% of the area’s 52,000 homes had been damaged by floodwaters. Southeast, in Ascension Parish, water had seeped into one of every three homes." The Los Angeles Times reports.
• See more photos at the New Orleans Times-Picayune.
• "We wince. We empathize. We say we'll pray. Yet there's an uneasy detachment that comes with watching it all from afar, from somewhere other than the too many ground zeros of this 1,000-year rain, from somewhere other than the path of destruction stretching across much of south Louisiana." A Times-Picayune columnist reflects here.
• The Red Cross says more than 1,000 volunteers, hailing from every state, are at work, and CNN takes a look at "Cajun Navy" rescuing people in boats.

(More flooding stories.)