Flood — Livingston, Louisiana

2016-08-13 to 2016-08-20 · near Weiss, Livingston, Louisiana

Event narrative

Twenty to thirty inches of rainfall over a 2 day period led to widespread flash flooding in Livingston Parish, details of which are contained in the flash flood report for the parish. As water drained into the local rivers, record levels were recorded along the Amite and Tickfaw Rivers. Flooding far exceeded the 1% annual risk flood plain with around 90% of the parish being inundated. Interstate 12 was closed through the entire parish as water flowed over the roadway in the vicinity of both the Amite and Tickfaw Rivers. The end time of the event is based on when the Amite near Little French Settlement dropped below moderate flood stage. Though minor flooding continued, there were very few structures impacted at this point. In all, more than 20,000 homes and businesses suffered various degrees of flooding throughout the parish, though it's difficult to determine how many were due to initial flash flooding and how many were due to subsequent river flooding. 2 fatalities are attributed to the river flooding. The body of a man in his 50s was recovered in a wooded area near Denham Springs, while the death is attributed to drowning, there is no estimate on time or exact location. Additionally, a 93 year old woman died of pneumonia Wednesday August 17 after inhaling flood water while being evacuated.

Wider weather episode

A slow moving low pressure system brought widespread showers and thunderstorms to the area. The system tapped into deep tropical moisture resulting in very intense rainfall across a large portion of the area. Two-day rainfall totals of 10 inches or more were common across areas generally to the west and northwest of Lakes Pontchartrain and Maurepas. The heaviest rainfall occurred across a swath of East Baton Rouge, Livingston, and St. Helena Parishes, where 20 to 30 inches fell over a 48-hour period, topping the 0.1% annual exceedance probability. The heavy rainfall led to widespread flash flooding and record river flooding. Many of the broken records had been set during the flooding of April 1983. In total, 12 people died in southeast Louisiana as a result of the flooding. The event was also responsible for an estimated total of ten billion dollars in damage across southern Louisiana and southern Mississippi. This estimate includes impacts of both the initial flash flooding and the resultant river flooding.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (30.6460, -90.9060)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 655862. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.