Local family shelters teen from Louisiana forced out by flooding

Bethlehem, Pa. (WTXF) "If we would have woken up 30 minutes later water would have been on top of my bed,"

17-year-old Levi Thompson describes the devastation in his hometown of Denham Springs after torrential rains flooded parts of Louisiana.

"it was really surreal almost like an apocalypse movie," he said.

It's been just over week since it happened. Levi is now in Bethlehem with family while his mom and dad are in a shelter back at home trying to rebuild.

"Everything that was in the house that was not in the attic is pretty much unsalvageable," said Levi. His family has been sending videos of the area before and after the water receded.

"You want to see where the contents are? Everything is out here," said his father in one of the videos.

Ali Drych is Levi's cousin. She's traveling to Louisiana this week to help the family with cleanup.

"Seeing it on the news and watching them, at one point, the helicopters were flying over their neighborhoods and all you saw were roofs," said Drych. She says despite the family losing their home even things of sentimental value like photos and a piano there's one thing she's grateful for.

"You know they're all still here. Everybody is safe," she said. Levi doesn't know when he'll return home and can't shake the images he left behind.

"Wading through waist deep water. It wasn't just water. It was like mud, sticks, spiders and snakes. My whole street was a river. The water was just really strong," he said.

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