Flash Flood — Lafayette, Louisiana

2012-03-12 · near Carencro, Lafayette, Louisiana

Event narrative

A boundary pushed to the coast of Louisiana during March 11th and then slowly lifted into Acadiana and stalled through much of 12th. Storms kept redeveloping over the area north of interstate 10 with some locations receiving more than one foot of rain during the 12th. Flash Flooding was reported across multiple parishes, but were most notable across southern portions of Saint Landry, northern sections of Lafayette, and northwest sections of Saint Martin parishes. Flood levels reached record levels along Bayou Vermilion during the event in Carencro.

The event flooded 690 homes which affected around 2,000 residents in the Carencro area. 77 rescues were made. Many roads were also closed including Interstate 49 from Sunset to Highway 190. A river gauge along Bayou Vermilion between Carencro and Arnaudville recorded 14.61 inches during the event with radar estimates between 14 and 16 inches which resulted in a record crest of 22.5 feet, 1 foot over the previous record.

Wider weather episode

A weak frontal boundary entered Louisiana on the 11th and slowly moved into deep south central Louisiana during the early morning hours of the 12th. The boundary very slowly lifted back north by sunrise on the 12th and then thunderstorms kept back-building over Acadiana through late morning to around noon. High water levels took multiple days to recede.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (30.4090, -92.0565)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 370774. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.