Flooding forces more than 1,000 from homes in Louisiana

(AP) — Huge military trucks rumbled through neighborhoods in northern Louisiana on Thursday in search of families trapped by days of relentless rain, while men in rain gear waded through floodwaters up to their chests to rescue stranded animals.

State officials said a 6-year-old girl was among three people killed in Louisiana during two days of severe weather that has left roads covered in water and sent more than 1,000 people fleeing their homes.

Guard spokesman Rebekah Malone said the Guard has evacuated 361 people from homes in Bossier, Ouachita and Morehouse parishes since Wednesday morning, using trucks that can travel though water 20 to 30 inches deep.

Meteorologists with the National Weather Service say officials have reported water rescues and evacuations near Dermott, Arkansas, as water rises in low-lying areas.

The National Weather Service says 3 to 10 inches of rain has fallen in counties along the Mississippi River in western Tennessee, eastern Arkansas and northern Mississippi since late Tuesday, flooding roads, parking lots and fields.

Mike Steele, a spokesman for the Governor's Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness, said a 22-year-old man and a 6-year-old girl in Ouachita Parish have also been confirmed dead.