![]() ![]() Flooding An aerial view of flooding near Baton Rougeįlooding began in earnest on August 12. Some analysts wonder if this is the new normal for storms and floods. ![]() Rainfall like this and the emergency help needed after the flooding subsides are straining the federal system for aid to states. Regional simulations suggest that the climate warming since 1985 may have increased the event precipitation (August 11–14, 2016) on the order of 20%. Large-ensemble modeling indicates that the prospect of future tropical-midlatitude interactions is a scenario that Louisiana will face in the future. Combined with the projected increase in precipitable water, resulting precipitation magnitude would increase. in summer these have an increasing potential to cross paths with low-pressure systems that form around the Gulf Coast. While tropical- midlatitude interactions of this nature are rare, they are not unprecedented.Īnalyses point towards the tendency for more and perhaps stronger upper-level troughs propagating out of the western U.S. A follow-on peer-reviewed paper indicates that the catastrophic flood in Louisiana was a result of intense precipitation produced by a slow-moving, tropical, low-pressure system interacting with an eastward-traveling baroclinic trough to the north. Climate change connection Ī rapid attribution study, published within one month after the event, indicates an anthropogenic climate warming role in the increased probability of the return time of a similar extreme event happening in the future. GPM provides a closer look at the Louisiana floods. īecause the rain was not associated with a named storm, there was less warning to the public for emergency preparations. According to the National Weather Service Hydrometeorological Design Studies Center, the amount of rainfall in the hardest-hit locations had a less than 0.1 percent chance of happening or was a (less than) 1-in-1,000-year event. The flooding rains also dumped more water than had Hurricane Isaac. Hurricane Katrina, by comparison, dumped about 2.3 trillion gallons of rainwater in the state (though more in other states). It dropped the equivalent of 7.1 trillion gallons of water or enough to fill Lake Pontchartrain about four times. The Washington Post noted that the "no-name storm" dumped three times as much rain on Louisiana as Hurricane Katrina. Accumulations peaked at 31.39 inches (797 mm) in Watson, just northeast of Baton Rouge. Rainfall rates of up to 2–3 inches (5.1–7.6 cm) an hour were reported in the most deluged areas where totals exceeded nearly 2 feet (61 cm) in some areas as a result of the system remaining stationary. It remained nearly stationary, and as a result, torrential downpours occurred in the areas surrounding Baton Rouge and Lafayette. Meteorological history A map of radar-estimated rainfall accumulations across Louisiana between August 9 areas shaded in white indicate accumulations in excess of 20 in (510 mm).Įarly on August 11, a mesoscale convective system flared up in southern Louisiana around a weak area of low pressure that was situated next to an outflow boundary. At least 13 deaths have been reported as a result of the flooding. The flood was called the worst US natural disaster since Hurricane Sandy in 2012. Many rivers and waterways, particularly the Amite and Comite rivers, reached record levels, and rainfall exceeded 20 inches (510 mm) in multiple parishes.īecause numerous homeowners who were affected were without flood insurance, the federal government provided disaster aid through the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). Louisiana's governor, John Bel Edwards, called the disaster a "historic, unprecedented flooding event" and declared a state of emergency. In August 2016, prolonged rainfall from an unpredictable storm resulted in catastrophic flooding in the state of Louisiana, United States thousands of houses and businesses were submerged. Most of southern Louisiana, United States The 21 Louisiana parishes that were designated as federal disaster areas by FEMA in the aftermath of the floods.Īugust 12, 2016 ( )–August 22, 2016 ( ) ![]()
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