Louisiana
East Texas volunteers respond to Louisiana flooding
MORGAN CITY, La.—“Stop,” urged Chaplain Leslie Burch of the Texans on Mission Deep East Texas flood recovery team. “Can everybody stop and pray with me?”
She asked her fellow team members to halt their work as they tore out flooring in the home of Troy and Angel in Morgan City, La.
The couple’s home had been flooded during heavy rains that hit the Mississippi Delta town the week before as Hurricane Francine landed in southern Louisiana.
“Troy and Angel are talking about accepting Christ, and we need to pray for God’s Spirit,” Burch explained.
It was all she needed to say. The group left their scrapers, shovels and wheelbarrows, gathered in the living room, now an empty space with bare concrete floors, held hands and prayed for the young homeowners and their children.
The Texans on Mission team was one of two that responded to Francine’s aftermath, joining partner groups from several other states to provide flood recovery and tree and debris removal after the violent storm.
Like many Texans on Mission teams, the Francine volunteers represented a mix of churches and backgrounds from throughout southeastern Texas.
Burch, a member of First Baptist Church of Orange, said the team came to “serve the needs” of the flood victims.
Team leader Mike Petigo of First Baptist Church in Nederland explained the team had been assigned to do flood recovery.
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“We’re taking out sheetrock and disinfecting their homes so that survivors can get ready to put new sheetrock back in,” Petigo said.
For Steve Hammer of Covenant Church in Willis, the recovery efforts were about “getting it all cleaned out so these people can get on with their lives.
“We’re here today, about a week after the hurricane came through, and it’s important,” Hammer added. “We’re cleaning out houses now, because it gets nastier and nastier and nastier as time goes on.”
Pastor on the receiving end of ministry
Homeowners Tracey and Marci Smith were grateful for the team, who removed the lower two feet of their home’s sheetrock to ready it for replacement after flood waters seeped in and posed a mold danger.
It was especially meaningful for Tracey Smith, pastor of First Baptist Church of Morgan City, where the combined relief teams camped in Bible study rooms and ate in the fellowship hall.
Smith has been involved in Louisiana Baptist disaster relief in previous hurricane recoveries, but after Francine flooded his home, he found himself on the receiving end of disaster response.
Taking a break from helping the Texas team tear out lower walls and treat for mold, he offered his perspective on the recent storm.
“Well, we’ve been through this before. We’ve been through Hurricanes Laura and Delta back in 2020. But we didn’t have flooding like this,” Smith said.
Smith rode out the flooding in his truck outside his home. Marci Smith said that as the water rose and came closer to their house, Tracey “sat in the truck with the two dogs” near his fishing boat in case he needed to “help our neighbors escape.” It was not needed, but he was ready to help.
The Smiths’ own home became surrounded by an unbroken sea of water.
“It’s just kind of a hopeless feeling not being able to stop or prevent that from happening,” Tracey said.
The day after the storm, he said, the couple noticed the water “was migrating more and more throughout the house.
“So, we didn’t know to what degree we were going to have to remove the flooring or walls or anything like that,” he said. “It pretty much changes your routine and most definitely changes your way of life. You know that it’s not going to be back to what you would consider normal anytime soon.”
Tracey Smith has responded to other disasters, including Hurricane Ian in 2022 when he worked with Texas volunteers. So, he knew what to expect from the volunteers when they arrived.
“We knew the quality job” they would do, Tracey said. “We knew that they were going to be more than willing to do whatever we needed. And we were just glad to have them. … This is a good bunch.”
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Louisiana is expanding the fishing limit for its signature saltwater game fish as part of the state’s American 250 celebration, Gov. Jeff Landry and his Wildlife and Fisheries Secretary Tyler Bosworth announced.
Bosworth signed a declaration of emergency to increase the red snapper bag limit from four fish per person to five fish per person for three days from July 2 to July 5 on Independence Day weekend.
“The celebration of America’s 250th birthday is a time to reflect on the blessings and abundant resources we have in our country and here in Louisiana, the Sportsman’s Paradise,’’ Bosworth said. “Increasing our red snapper limit to five fish is a way we’d like to thank the anglers of our state as they enjoy this special holiday with family and friends.’’
Landry is an avid angler, hunter and outdoorsman.
“The increase in the red snapper limit for the holiday weekend is a great way to celebrate America’s 250th birthday,” the governor said in a statement. “I look forward to seeing anglers across our state celebrating our nation’s independence in Sportsman’s Paradise.”
Louisiana is considered the epicenter of red snapper fishing in the Gulf of America, with Venice and Grand Isle as the state’s premier launching spots to reach the most prolific snapper grounds in the Gulf.
Venice is often call the “Red Snapper Capital.”
The state’s extensive offshore oil and gas rigs and artificial reefs provide exceptional access to massive populations for snapper, which are prized for their fight and taste.
Bosworth encourages anglers to reduce barotrauma while fishing for red snapper and other reef fish by using descending devices to return fish to a survivable depth before being released. See the LDWF barotrauma webpage for more information.
The bag limit will revert to four fish per person, per day on July 6.
For additional questions regarding the current red snapper season, go to the agency’s Red Snapper webpage.
Greg Hilburn covers state politics for the USA TODAY Network of Louisiana. Follow him on Twitter @GregHilburn1.
BATON ROUGE, La. (WAFB) – A 53-year-old Louisiana man will serve 22 years in prison following a child sex crimes case that included possession of handmade childlike sex dolls — items that state lawmakers have since moved to ban.
Sabine Parish prosecutors say Yancy Elie Normand was sentenced after investigators received a tip that he forced someone to view child sexual abuse material. A search of his home allegedly uncovered more than 200 illegal files — including child sexual abuse material and bestiality — along with two handmade childlike sex dolls.
New state law bans child sex dolls
Louisiana lawmakers passed a law banning the possession, trafficking, and importation of child sex dolls statewide in 2024. State Sen. Beth Mizell said the push began after conversations with Homeland Security about human trafficking during the Super Bowl in New Orleans, at a time when the state had no specific law covering the dolls. The measure passed with near-unanimous support.
“I think the importance is that it’s a precursor to actual crimes against children,” Mizell said.
Mizell said the issue extends well beyond Louisiana’s borders.
“It’s a nationwide problem…when you look at just the volume of child abuse cases, to the point where our Attorney General now has multiple task forces in place all over the state,” Mizell said.
Task force expands statewide reach
The Louisiana Attorney General’s Office says protecting children remains the focus of its Louisiana Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force. Supervisory Special Agent Chris Masters leads the group, which now includes more than 80 agencies and 250 detectives.
Masters said the dolls are often misunderstood by the public.
“When people hear sex doll, they think of the blow-up thing. These things are thousands of dollars, and they’re anatomically appropriate to a child,” Masters said. “They’re gonna look like a child. It’s not just what you think on TV.”
Masters said coordination across agencies is essential to the task force’s work.
“It’s completely impossible if law enforcement is not together on the same page with the same type of training, the same access, the same type of equipment,” Masters said. “We can tend to continue expanding our partnerships until there is no safe haven for any sex predator or child predator in this state.”
Lawmakers urge parents to monitor children’s online activity
Mizell said the volume of harmful material accessible online makes parental awareness critical.
“You have access to abhorrent material online in your hand all day, every day,” Mizell said. “Pay attention. Don’t be afraid to look at your child’s phone.”
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MONROE, La. (KNOE)—Over the past week, average gas prices in Louisiana have fallen 6.8 cents. That averages to $3.41/g today, according to a survey of 2,436 stations conducted by ‘GasBuddy’.
Compared to a month ago, prices in Louisiana are 45.3 cents lower per gallon. The lowest price of gas in Louisiana was $2.59/g on Sunday, with the highest being $4.99/g.
For reference, the national average price of gas has fallen 6.9 cents per gallon in the last week, which averages to $3.78/g, and is down 55.6 cents per gallon from a month ago.
On this date for the past five years, here’s how Louisiana’s gas prices compare to the nation’s average:
June 29, 2025: $2.75/g (U.S. Average: $3.14/g)
June 29, 2024: $2.93/g (U.S. Average: $3.48/g)
June 29, 2023: $3.02/g (U.S. Average: $3.51/g)
June 29, 2022: $4.37/g (U.S. Average: $4.85/g)
June 29, 2021: $2.76/g (U.S. Average: $3.12/g)
Copyright 2026 KNOE. All rights reserved.
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