BATON ROUGE - Baton Rouge business owners say they are losing thousands of dollars since the flood destroyed their locations.

Ray Patel owned a motel for 16 years. It was heavily damaged in the storm.

"Everything is gone," Patel said. His motel got nearly 5 feet of water inside. It was his main source of income for he and his family.

Patel says he "still has a couple of clothes, my car, and my passport with me. And my family with me."

Another business owner, Johnny Ardion, says he, his family and 7 dogs are now living inside his beauty shop in Denham Springs, after being flooded out of his home.

"We got here," Ardion explained. "We weren't here, but 4 or 5 hours and it started coming in the door. About a foot and a half in the shop. It destroyed the shop."

Flood water damaged all the neighboring business of Ardion street. The beauty shop will have to be completely restored, Ardion says.

"I'm hoping FEMA treats us decent, and we can get in there and re-do and get back to work, and try to make some more money and get back on our feet."