The State Fire Marshal and Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries are staging search and rescue teams in Lafayette in anticipation of flash flooding in the region. 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.Louisianas governor, John Bel Edwards, called the disaster a 'historic, unprecedented flooding event' and declared a state of emergency. More than 8,200 soldiers are currently assisting the state with hurricane recovery, including the entirety of the Louisiana National Guard. John Bel Edwards said that declaration allows Louisiana to jump-start the recovery process by moving search and rescue assets already in the state for Hurricane Ida into place to swiftly respond to Nicholas. President Joe Biden granted the state’s request for a pre-landfall federal disaster declaration Monday night. With bout 95,000 homes and businesses still without power after Hurricane Ida, another 1,300 customers lost power because of Tropical Storm Nicholas - many of whom were in the dark during Hurricane Ida and only recently had their power restored, Edwards said. “If we can get through the next 24 hours and we do not see any significant changes in the weather for Lake Charles, I’m pretty confident to say that we would be in the clear,” Hunter said. The event flooded many homes and businesses that were damaged by Hurricanes Laura and Delta months earlier.įor Hunter, the unpredictability of the event underscored the need for resilient infrastructure in communities like his and the importance of taking each prediction of severe weather seriously. In May, Lake Charles experienced a 1,000-year rain event that dumped more than 20 inches in parts of the city, quadrupling forecasted rainfall totals.
“These tropical systems can be very finicky and we have seen less effects from Tropical Storm Nicholas so far than we had from a severe rain event on May 17 this year.” “It just shows you that every storm certainly has its own DNA,” Hunter said. “If there is any way to avoid traveling by car over the next few days, we ask you to do that.”īy 2:30 Tuesday afternoon, Mayor Nic Hunter of Lake Charles described conditions as mild and said it appeared that his community avoided the worst-case scenario forecasters predicted. “Only travel by road if it’s absolutely necessary,” Kanter said.
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Four out of five deaths during the May 17 flooding event were of drivers who encountered high water, Kanter said. Joseph Kanter urged people not to drive when floodwaters rise over roadways. Edwards added that the rains, and the risk for flash flooding, will persist through the weekend.
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