BATON ROUGE — (CNN) Swollen rivers in Louisiana are expected to continue rising Monday, with deadly flood waters displacing tens of thousands of people and a state of emergency declared.

The flood waters have claimed at least five victims — one in Tangipahoa Parish, two in East Baton Rouge Parish and two in St. Helena Parish.

Meanwhile, Gov. John Bel Edwards told media Sunday that more than 7,000 people had to be rescued from their homes over the weekend.

On Sunday night, President Obama granted Edwards’ request for an emergency declaration to assist in response and recovery efforts. So far, the governor has deployed the Louisiana National Guard, which mobilized 1,700 soldiers to assist in search and rescue. Military police are assisting local law enforcement with security.

The Coast Guard said it had rescued more than 118 people and assisted more than 766 in Baton Rouge Sunday.

Private citizens also contributed to search and rescue efforts but the flood waters continue to claim victims.

The Louisiana Department of Health told CNN early Monday that there had been a flood-related death in Tangipahoa Parish.

Police confirmed Sunday that a woman’s body had been retrieved from inside a flooded vehicle at North Hampton. According to witnesses, the woman was seen Saturday night attempting to turn around in high water when her vehicle was swept away, the East Baton Rouge Sheriff’s Office said.

East Baton Rouge Parish suffered another fatality Friday when a 68-year-old man drowned after slipping and falling in flood waters. In St. Helena Parish, the body of an unidentified 30-year-old woman was rescued Saturday afternoon after the vehicle she was traveling in with her husband and mother was swept away. Her mother and husband were rescued.

Another victim, Samuel Muse, 54, of Greensburg, died Friday after he tried to drive through high water and flood waters swept his vehicle off the road, CNN affiliate WAFB reported.

Tom Kelly of Prairieville, Louisiana, has one wish for Monday: To wake up in his own bed and put his feet on dry ground.

As he sat on his neighbor’s porch Sunday afternoon, watching floodwater from Bayou Manchac creep above his patio, he knew it was unlikely.

“It’s epic,” Kelly said of historic flooding that swept across southeastern Louisiana over the weekend. “It’s as high as I’ve ever seen it.”

Shoes, children’s toys and household items floated through knee-deep water outside his home.

With their homes largely intact they know they’re the lucky ones.

“We’re praying it stops where it is,” said Kelly’s neighbor, Jenny Ragland, whose home on a ridge was spared similar damage.

Kelly and others planned to spend the night in Ragland’s home. Beyond that, they’re not sure what they’ll do.

Another neighbor, Brad Jacobs, hopped in a canoe and paddled across the road to his home to grab fresh clothes. Ankle-deep water filled his home; he hopes an insurance payout will help replace the floors.

Resident Toni Denova just bought new furniture for her home but that’s not what worried her. All she wanted was to preserve her family photographs against the rising floodwater.

“I have a box full of pictures in my garage that I hope get saved. That’s all I really care about,” Denova told CNN.

‘It’s only going to get worse’

More than 24 inches of rain have fallen since Wednesday in Livingston, near Baton Rouge, making the disaster an extremely rare weather event, according to the National Weather Service. The statistical chance of such flooding occurring in any given year is 1%, the weather service said.

Though the storms that caused the flooding had largely moved on by Sunday afternoon, flood warnings remained in effect around Livingston Parish. Rivers such as the Comite near East Baton Rouge and the Tickfaw near Livingston were expected to keep rising through Monday morning, causing more backwater flooding from rivers and bayous like the surge that impacted Prairieville.

On Sunday in the town of Galvez-Lake near the Amite River, a frantic Christy Bourgeois and her husband Tom prepared a fan boat to assist a nearby flooded home.

“The last I heard my sister was there and it was on fire,” she said.

Nearby, victims were salvaging toys, clothes and other belongings from their flooded homes. Down Highway 431, desperate families gathered at a gas station, pickup trucks loaded with belongings, waiting for water in their homes to recede.

Not far away, Jeremy Best said he and Henri Dufrane brought their small boat from nearby Wallace to help people escape their flooded houses.

Best said the water is still rising.

“It’s coming up fast, man,” said Best, who was wearing little more than shorts and a pair of boat shoes. “And it’s only going to get worse.”

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