Flash Flood — Lafayette, Louisiana

2016-08-12 to 2016-08-14 · near Carencro, Lafayette, Louisiana

Event narrative

Street flooding along Ambassador Caffery and a few other poorly drained streets were first reported during the early morning of the 12th. High rainfall rates continued through the day with many streets being flooded and some structures by mid morning. Widespread flooding of vehicles, structures, and high water rescues began during the late morning across Lafayette Parish. The Vermilion River reached major flood stage by sunrise on the 13th and remained above major flood stage for 5 and a half days. Rainfall totals surpassed 20 inches in the southern section of the parish over the 12th and 13th. An estimated 9,376 structures flooded during the event.

Wider weather episode

A very slow moving area of low pressure moved west across South Louisiana. Very high moisture content and slow moving bands of rain generated efficient rain producing storms that left rainfall totals at some locations over 20 inches. A couple of severe storms also occurred during the period.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (31.2974, -91.8718)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 656557. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.