Exactly how many will need temporary housing is unclear, but state officials are urging landlords to allow short-term leases and encouraging people to rent out any empty space. "If you have a unit that's an old mother-in-law suite and you can rent it out, let us know," said Keith Cunningham, who heads the Louisiana Housing Corporation, the state housing agency. In a sign of the housing crunch, Livingston Parish officials are talking with FEMA about getting temporary housing for emergency and rescue workers. Across the flood-stricken area, many residents said they weren't required to have flood insurance and didn't have it, since nothing remotely like this had ever happened before. ———Kunzelman and Deslatte reported from Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

Source: ABC News August 17, 2016 20:55 UTC