Disaster declared for Louisiana floods that have killed five

U.S. President Barack Obama issued a disaster declaration on Sunday for flood-ravaged Louisiana, where at least five people have died and emergency crews have rescued more than 20,000 people stranded by unprecedented flooding. Governor John Bel Edwards said residents had been pulled from swamped cars, flooded homes and threatened hospitals across the southern part of the state. The soaked region is expected to get more rain from a storm system stretching from the Gulf Coast to the Ohio Valley. While the brunt of the storm that brought torrential rains was moving west toward Texas, Louisiana residents should remain cautious, the governor said. The National Weather Service forecast heavy rain from the Gulf Coast as far north as the Ohio Valley through Monday, with a threat of flash flooding. A flash flood watch was in place until Monday morning for Houston, where rains killed at least eight people in late April.