re: Major Louisiana Flood Event

Will I be good driving east to mobile on i10?

May not be answer now, but ole Breck posted this info on FB


Bob Breck WVUE
23 mins ·
Flooding Prespective
Finally we began to see weathercasters making comparisons to past floods after overwhelming us for days with river stages & river crests. I dare say that most viewers had little clue what the weather folks were talking about except they knew some people were in for high water. One of the 1st things I did when I arrived back in 1978 was to start a “flood folder” (no computers back then) where I took newspaper accounts of what flooded when certain rivers reached/exceeded flood stage. What I found was above “flood stage” didn’t mean anybody was receiving water in their homes. To the contrary, “flood stage” had to be exceeded by 2-3+(or more) feet before homes were threatened. There was the Great Jackson, MS. Flood of 1979 that brought a huge amount of water down the Pearl. Fortunately for SE LA/MS, there wasn’t significant damage here. 4 years later was a different story with the great flood of 1983. What I learned was the Pearl needed to reach 19.5’+ at Pearl River before major impacts began. That level has been reached tonight and is expected to approach the 1983 record of 21.05’ Monday PM or night. That means IF you had water in your home 33 years ago, it will probably happen again. Back in 1983, I-10 was closed for days as water surged over the interstate. That should happen again. I believe when we have “historic” or “never seen before” events, we need to compare them to past history, like we do with Hurricanes. People don’t understand river levels & flood stages. They do understand & remember when they last got water in their homes. My worst flood experience was the May 1995 flood. Luckily my house in Metairie remained dry. Katrina drowned one of my cars & put 18” of water in my townhome. We remember those events like yesterday.
A quick education about rivers…the smaller the river, the faster it’ll rise & fall, usually in a matter of hours or a day. The bigger the river, the longer it takes for the rises & falls, usually in terms of days or weeks versus hours. That’s why the smaller streams often are the deadly ones as a little brook can turn into a raging torrent with minutes & hours. If ever camping, be away of the elevation around the camp grounds in case you need to rush to high ground during a flash flood. Bob Breck

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CALDWELL PARISH, La. (KNOE 8 News) - UPDATE Sunday, March 13th at 9:10 P.M.- Emergency officials say water spilled over a spoil bank, and anywhere from two to four feet of water may be heading towards the town of Hebert. A mandatory evacuation is being issued for Hebert, and emergency shelters are open at the Mangham Baptist Church, as well as Outreach Baptist church. The Caldwell Parish Sheriff's Office says LA Highway 133 is the primary evacuation route. We have a crew on the way to the scene, and will bring you the latest details as soon as possible.

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Background, this isn't a dam or a levee per se, but what was left over and piled on the banks from when they channelized Lafource years ago (another mistake, but what's done is done). If they'd left it in its natural state, it would have mitigated some of this flooding, but farmers gonna farm every square inch they can.

People bitch about the EPA, but this is why preserving wetlands is pretty important.

Do we have a count of how many roads/bridges have been washed out? This is insane

Little help. I have a friend who will be taking I-20 across LA to TX and trying to figure out if that will be a safe route. Looks like the dam break is south of I-20 correct?

It did not. Took it today.

Not as bad as first reports indicated

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CALDWELL PARISH, La. (KNOE 8 News) - UPDATE Sunday, March 13th at 11:00 P.M.- Caldwell Parish Sheriff Steve May says they are expected less than two feet of water to travel towards the town of Hebert, despite original reports.

They are still issuing a mandatory evacuation, and asking all residents to leave Hebert, because of the risk of severe flooding.

We will continue to monitor the situation, and bring you updates as we learn more.

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Is it still raining over there?

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•Near Monroe, Louisiana: 24.58 inches
•Near Swartz, Louisiana: 22.25 inches
•Near Hemphill, Texas: 18.10 inches
•Near Minden, Louisiana: 17.26 inches
•Near Hamburg, Arkansas: 15.70 inches
•Near Greenville, Mississippi: 14.18 inches
•Near Longview, Texas: 12.03 inches
•Shreveport (Regional Airport), Louisiana: 12.02 inches
•Near Collierville, Tennessee: 11.50 inches
•Memphis Int'l Airport: 8.40 inches
•Hattiesburg, Mississippi: 7.87 inches

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•Corpus Christi, Texas: 5.15 inches on March 9
•Greenville, Mississippi: 5.64 inches on March 9
•Monroe, Louisiana: 10.86 inches on March 9; (their second wettest March day is now March 8, when 5.62 inches of rain fell at Monroe Regional Airport)
•Shreveport, Louisiana: 5.12 inches on March 8; (their second wettest March day is now March 9, when another 4.42 inches of rain fell)

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