Storm Surge/Tide — Vermilion, Louisiana

2019-07-13 to 2019-07-14 · Vermilion, Louisiana

Event narrative

A voluntary evacuation was called for low-lying areas in Vermilion Parish. Due to storm surge, Intracoastal City, Henry, Erath, and Delcambre flooded, with water depths varying from a few inches to several feet. Locals said the storm surge was comparable to what happened in 2002 Hurricane Lili and 2008 Hurricane Ike. Water levels hit 7.36 feet NAVD88 near Abbeville on the Vermilion River, 6.98 feet NAVD88 at Leland Boman Lock, and 6.84 feet NAVD88 at Intracoastal City.

Wider weather episode

A mesoscale convective vortex interacted with a weak cold front over the the southeast states and northeast Gulf of Mexico. The surface low that developed moved southwest across the gulf then northwest into the south central Louisiana coast. The first tropical watches were issued July 10th from the National Hurricane Center and the center of minimal hurricane made landfall near Intracoastal City during the afternoon of the 13th. Storm surge from Barry peaked between 5 and 6 feet in and around Vermilion Bay. The center of Barry moved northwest across Southwest and West Louisiana in the following days where one band of heavy rain set up in Calcasieu and Beauregard Parishes producing significant flooding.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 847042. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.