BATON ROUGE – Emergency officials say thousands of homes have received flood damage after severe weather brought record breaking rainfall to Louisiana this week.

The Governor’s Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness says initial reports indicate more than 4,958 homes received flood damage already. GOHSEP says that number is expected to climb.

Governor John Bel Edwards and other cabinet members have traveled to many of the hardest hit areas. Saturday Edwards surveyed damages in Tangipahoa. Edwards announced that he will tour Beauregard and Calcasieu parishes to evaluate the state’s emergency response.

“Our first goal is to help our local partners through the response phase of this event,” said GOHSEP Director James Waskom. “We will begin to transition into the recovery phase as conditions improve.  We have been working with FEMA for the past several days in an effort to streamline the disaster assessment process that will ultimately determine what level of Federal support will be available for individuals, parishes and state agencies dealing with flood.”

In a Sunday press release, GOHSEP said the crisis is not over as the National Weather Service is predicting more thunderstorms and severe weather for Northwest Louisiana.

GOHSEP is encouraging residents to use caution near floodwater and do not drive on flooded roadways.