WBRZ - Baton Rouge

PLAQUEMINES PARISH, La.- Eighteen miles of levee was overtopped early Wednesday morning.

"People are going door-to-door, trying to get people out," a spokesperson told WBRZ by phone.

Just after midnight, a levee system between inhabited areas of Plaquemines Parish and marshland along the Gulf of Mexico was overtopped. The levee is about 8 feet high.

Officials don't know how many people need to be evacuated, because that area was under a mandatory evacuation order- and there's no word on how many people didn't leave.

The water is believed to be low enough were people can escape.