Calcasieu Parish officials say they dodged a bullet when Tropical Storm Harvey made a second landfall on the western Louisiana coast.

Sheriff Tony Mancuso says while the western side of the parish did get a lot of rain overnight, it wasn’t enough to cause major widespread flooding.

“We had a really good night last night as far as rainfall, and what’s amazing is if you took the state right at the line and went west, they got hammered in Orange, Texas, and Port Arthur,” Mancuso said.

Mancuso says roughly 200 residents had to be rescued after taking on water, but the parish is in pretty good shape considering what they could have faced. He says they are fortunate because after a month of heavy rain, the parish could not have handled more water.

“Thirty miles from Lake Charles in Orange, Texas, and Port Arthur, they have catastrophic damage. They really got it handed to them last night,” Mancuso said, “So we were just miles from having catastrophic damage here in Calcasieu, and it would not have taken much.”

Mancuso says the western side of the parish took the brunt of the rainfall. He says the more rural areas were impacted, as major cities like Sulphur and Lake Charles on the eastern side were spared. But Texas was not as fortunate.

“Our friends to the west of us really didn’t fare so lucky. I know I-10 westbound’s closed. You really can’t get into Texas. If we can dry up quick, we’re looking at maybe sending them some help if they need some in the coming days,” Mancuso said.

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