Little Town, Big Heart

Over the last two weeks Chattooga County Sheriff Mark Schrader joined forces with other Sheriffs in Northwest Georgia to collect donations and supplies for flood stricken East Baton Rouge Parish in Louisiana. The area has been ravaged by floods for days caused by unusually heavy rains. Thousands have been displaced in what the Red Cross called the “biggest natural disaster since Hurricane Sandy”. An official from the East Baton Rouge Sheriff’s Office said that more than 50% of the parish (county) is underwater.

“What a blessing from the people of Chattooga County. In two short weeks, the great people of Chattooga County donated 1600 lbs. of clothing and toiletries to the Louisiana flood victims. A big THANK YOU to all that participated in this relief effort. Also, a big shout out to my office staff for sorting and packing this tremendous amount of supplies…thank you,” commented Sheriff Schrader in a facebook post.

The supplies left Chattooga County yesterday and will be trucked to Louisiana with an escort of deputy sheriffs and turned over to East Baton Rouge Sheriff Sid Gautreauex’s staff for distribution. The supplies are primarily for the East Baton Rouge Sheriff’s Office staff, over 180 of which have been displaced from their homes, a large portion permanently so.

A report from the Baton Rouge Area Chamber gives an estimate of roughly 110,000 homes damaged by the flood waters with a value of $20.7 billion.