Storm Floods Jacksonville Mobile Home Park; Traps 21

Crews arrived a Hillside Bayou mobile-home park just after 7:30 a.m. Friday. it took almost two-hours to get everyone out safely. One family was so frightened by the rising water they found a way out even before emergency crews arrived.

The Wilsons went to sleep Thursday night with water in their yard but when they woke up it looked like a lake. Police say the water may have been contaminated with raw sewage.

"Panic really. I knew I had to get the kids out of there, I didn't know how much deeper it was going to get," said Alan Wilson.

The Wilson family live close enough to the edge of the flooded-area that they were able to walk out in knee-deep water to safety. Seventeen other neighbors stayed in their homes until emergency vehicles arrived.

Those spared by the floods watched in disbelief as rescuers carried out their neighbors and cars stood in driveways half underwater.

"I look out the window and there are all kinds of sirens and boats and trucks and everybody," said Astrid Whitener.

Property managers, Wendy Baldridge, watched restlessly Friday afternoon, waiting for the water to recede. She says the extent of damage will be determined once crews are able to inspect the homes.

"We had ten trailers that were almost all the way under water or at least up to their porch that they could not get out," she said.

Still in the clothes they woke up in, the Wilsons' panic slowly turned into relief. Five-year-old Madison and her little sister Samie's biggest worry though, was when the water will allow them back home to see their toys. "I'm scared of water," said Madison.

Alan Madison works in maintenance on the property; he'll be one of the first people to go back into the trailers to assess the damages. Some families are in area churches and others are with friends and family members. There are about 70 homes in the trailer park. Owners say this is the first time it's flooded this badly. Last year after hurricane Gustav, they moved two trailers uphill to prevent families from getting trapped in the event there's a major rainfall.