Much of South Louisiana has been ravaged by flooding over the past week. 
The downpour caused many Louisiana residents, including some University students, to lose everything they own. 
On campus and throughout the region University students and citizens are reacting to
the tragedy.  
Many student leaders, including electrical engineering senior and Student Government President Zack Faircloth and mass communications senior Zach Barnett, wanted to help people affected by the storm. Barnett said they decided to go to Celtic Studios, where he said there were an “outrageous” number of cars.
Some were there to donate goods, while others were there to seek shelter. Families were spread out between different buildings and slept in cots with all of their personal belongings, Barnett said.
“It was pretty incredible seeing not only the amount of people that were there helping, but the amount of people that were calling this place home,” he said.
On Aug. 15, Faircloth, Barnett and friends donated about $600 worth of necessities, including baby food and other resources.
On that same day, Gov. John Bel Edwards arrived at the same facility to offer help, Barnett said. Barnett and friends are still collecting donations for the community and have raised over $4,000. 
The group is spending the money on items that are handed out to victims of the flood and donating some to charity.
University students aren’t the only ones showing care and providing help to flood victims. The University of South Carolina contacted SG and sent down trucks full of essential supplies for families in need to the Cortana Mall over the weekend.  The USC band played the LSU alma mater on its field to repay the University’s favor to the Gamecocks last year.
Last year the University helped USC recover from massive flooding in Columbia, South Carolina by hosting the away football game between the Gamecocks and Tigers. The proceeds of the game went toward victims of South Carolina floods.
“The people of Columbia understand that they had an opportunity to reciprocate what we did for them last year, but I think that they amplified that effort,” Faircloth said. “It’s been just absolutely resilient on their part and the fact that they’re pushing that sense of community and sharing that sense of community with us, I think is going to bring us even closer together.”
Another group that helped out at the Cortana Mall this weekend was the Salvation Army, even after it lost nine of its buildings in Baton Rouge. Capt. Brett Meredith, the commander of the Baton Rouge Salvation Army, believes that resilience is key.
“Right now, there is nobody sitting around doing nothing,” Meredith said.“They’re all working hard and making a difference for the people of our community. And that’s what we want to do.”
Over the last week, citizens from all over Louisiana have shown their support, whether it is through a donation, going to clean up a house affected by flooding or raising awareness on social media.
“Even though we can all keep liking and sharing and doing things on social media, actions speak louder than words. If you’re able to volunteer, go out and help someone you know. If you don’t know anyone out there that needs help, find somebody,” Barnett said. “First and foremost, we have the entire Baton Rouge community accounted for, and making sure that everything is taken care of for their houses and their families. And we especially want to make sure that the LSU families are taken care of, as well.”  
Jordan Marcell contributed to this report.