By Deborah Dupré

El Nino has dramatically pounded Louisiana residents with one inch of rain approximately every hour over the past fourteen hours, creating an apocalyptic scene. Unimaginably, rain predictions for the next 12 hours are the same and a triple weather threat has not even reached the state, yet. Forced evacuations have been ordered. The National Guard has been deployed. New Orleans residents brace for Hurricane Katrina-type struggles, where ten more inches of rain are expected along with a slow-moving storm.

In addition to heavy rain, high winds have already pushed water onshore, causing coastal flooding, with wind gusts Wednesday averaging 45 mph in New Orleans and 33 mph in Baton Rouge.

See: Godzilla El Nino Targets New Orleans

Five deaths have been confirmed. All were drownings. In one, a 75-year old man died trying to drive through high water. A yound child and father are among those unable to survive the rapid inundation of water.

Officials and forecasters are warning people to stay off roads.

“Most flood deaths occur in vehicles,” the National Weather Service said. Also, flooding is the leading weather-related cause of death over the last 30 years, according to CNN meteorologists Jennifer Gray and Monica Garrett.

“We didn’t know it was going to flood,” Carol Chavis said.

This morning, floodwaters rushed into homes, stranded residents in parts of northwestern Louisiana as heavy rains pelted the Southeast.

Jackson, Chavis’s grandson, said he was scared.

The water rose quickly in homes throughout the area.

“And then it came under the door,” young Jackson said.

As sheriffs deputies went door to door helping people get out, in some areas, they had to request that only people with life or death emergencies contact them because they were overburdened.

The severe storm risk will remain Thursday, with the state capitol Baton Rouge and New Orleans being impacted. Both cities are on the swollen Mississippi River and its tributaries, dependent on the Mississippi Levee to prevent what could be catastrophic flooding. New Orleans is below sea level

Officials are warning that floodwaters could rise above a levy, placing thousands of homes and businesses in jeopardy. A forced evacuation has been ordered. Many residents are having to rely on first responders in boats, including  the National Guard and sheriff deputies.

“We’ll be out there in full force the rest of the evening and night, as long as it takes,” Sheriff Whittington said. “We encourage everyone to get prepared, and try and evacuate.”

He added, “You do need to move out.”

CBS reports:

Paul Pickerings and his family grabbed what they could as the floodwaters rose.

“We started grabbing stuff, cats, and the girls, and in five minutes it was knee deep,” he said. “I happened to look out and it was up to the door knobs.”

The sheriff’s department rescued him.

“They kicked the door in and then it was a like a tidal wave coming into the house,” Pickerings said.

Watch CBS News’ David Begnaud show CBSN how intense storm damage is in Louisiana.

“For early to mid-March, this is quite an impressive system,” said Robert Ricks, lead forecaster in Slidell’s National Weather Service officel. High winds remain a concern over the next few days. Rainfall through Saturday, however, is the most serious threat.

Baton Rouge is expected to see the beginning of the heaviest rain overnight Wednesday, continueing through Thursday, bringing some 4 to 5 inches of rainfall.

“It’s entirely possible, if not likely, that some spots could get up to 8 inches by Friday morning,” said meteorologist Bob Wagner, also in the National Weather Service office in Slidell.

Rain will continue in Baton Rouge into Saturday. The heaviest rainfall, however, will follow the eastern path straight to New Orleans where it will reach  late Thursday and continue there into Saturday morning, according to Wagner.

“This is a very slow-moving system,” he said.

The system could flood with over 11 inches of rain in south-central Louisiana, including parishes (counties) of Terrebonne, Lafourche, Jefferson, St. Bernard and parts of Plaquemines, although meterorologists say the concentration of rainfall easily could shift.

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