Updated, 3:41 p.m.

The heavy rain started on Friday, and as flooding began in towns across the Gulf Coast, the governor of Louisiana declared a state of emergency. By Saturday the waters were raging: the National Guard was pulling people from their homes, rivers were cresting at historic levels, cars and buses had overturned and the worst was ahead. It was not until Sunday night, at 8:20 p.m., that The New York Times posted a staff-written story on its website, which appeared Monday in print.

Readers trying to follow the news might have come across a wire story before Sunday, but The Times had devoted no staff resources before then. Only today has a staff writer reached the flood areas — Campbell Robertson, who until now has been covering the floods from dry ground in New Orleans.

Many readers have expressed disappointment in the coverage. Here’s Catherine Holmes, of Georgia, who wrote in Sunday afternoon. “Baton Rouge and residents north and east are in the midst of a disaster and I see nothing on The New York Times’s front page. Hundreds of people have been stranded on I-12 since yesterday morning, and just a few hours ago got some water delivered to them,” she wrote. “Disappointing that Trump’s latest gaffe and the Olympics totally dominate your front page this morning, when so many in south Louisiana are suffering.”

There was also this from Laura Esfeller, who grew up in Louisiana: “I am outraged that The New York Times is not covering the devastating flooding in Louisiana! People are stranded, have lost everything and are dying, and the nation’s newspaper of record has done no original reporting on this? Make this a priority!”