BATON ROUGE - As of Tuesday morning, in East Baton Rouge Parish alone, over 250 water-related rescues were made, officials say.

While the region was pounded by heavy rainfall and strong gusts of wind, water crept into many homes, forcing residents to evacuate.

Officials encouraged individuals who found themselves in this predicament to take shelter in safer areas, such as local fire stations that had been set up to accept incoming evacuees late Monday and early Tuesday.

Stream live WBRZ newscasts and breaking weather reports here

Throughout the night, operators in EBR took more than 600 emergency calls. 

City and local fire agencies responded quickly to calls of flooded homes and apartments, initiating rescues and housing evacuees for the rest of the night.

Some 12 inches of rain fell in parts of Baton Rouge and as of Tuesday morning, in East Baton Rouge Parish over 7,000 are without power, according to outage maps.

East Baton Rouge Mayor-President Sharon Weston Broome said personnel with Baton Rouge Fire Departments assisted those who were asked to leave their homes. 

Mayor Broome appeared live on WBRZ around 1:30 Tuesday morning.

HAPPENING NOW: The St George Fire Department is evacuating everyone from the Siegen Calais apartments off Siegen Lane near Winn Dixie. The complex flooded, with cars and apartments on the first floor taking in water. @WBRZ pic.twitter.com/CFPjCsJdZS

— Nadeen Abusada (@NadeenAbusada) May 18, 2021

At 10 a.m., Tuesday, Mayor Broome will again provide locals with an update on weather conditions and the potential threat of continued flash flooding conditions throughout East Baton Rouge Parish.

The Mayor's address will be aired at 10 a.m. on Channel 2, WBRZ Plus, and all WBRZ platforms. 

At that time, viewers can also click here to watch it online.

Late Monday night, the St. George Fire Department contributed to weather-related efforts by creating an impromptu shelter at its facilities when the first floor of the Siegen Calais apartment complex was evacuated by boat around midnight.  WBRZ broadcast video of numerous families being taken out by boat and put onto buses.  They were taken to a fire station, authorities said.

City and parish officials said they set up overnight shelters on their own.

EBR Mayor-President Broome issued a city-parish disaster declaration around 2 a.m. Tuesday.  The order opens the parish up for state or federal assistance in responding to the flood event.  

The Louisiana State Fire Marshal's Office responded with boats and staged rescue operations in various parts of flooded areas of Baton Rouge.

By early Tuesday morning, authorities were bringing people evacuated from flooded homes and apartments in southern East Baton Rouge Parish to the Baton Rouge airport.  Earlier, authorities were using fire stations to house evacuees.