2016 Louisiana floods
Louisiana's governor, John Bel Edwards, called the disaster a "historic, unprecedented flooding event" and declared a state of emergency.[5] Early 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.[7] The Washington Post noted that the "no-name storm" dumped three times as much rain on Louisiana as Hurricane Katrina.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.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.[10] Analyses point towards the tendency for more and perhaps stronger upper-level troughs propagating out of the western U.S. in summer; these have an increasing potential to cross paths with low-pressure systems that form around the Gulf Coast.[11] By August 15, more than ten rivers (Amite, Vermilion, Calcasieu, Comite, Mermentau, Pearl, Tangipahoa, Tchefuncte, Tickfaw, and Bogue Chitto) and many more had reached a moderate, major, or record flood stage.[23] Many boat-owning residents of Louisiana and Mississippi, together with other volunteers, formed an informal rescue service known as the Cajun Navy and navigated through flooded areas to answer calls for help that they received via social media.[28] Flash flooding swamped a 7-mile (11 km) section of Interstate 12 between Tangipahoa Parish and Baton Rouge, stranding 125 vehicles.State police and the National Guard used high-water vehicles to rescue trapped motorists, but many remained stuck for over 24 hours.[34][35] Singer Beyoncé, along with sister Solange and Kelly Rowland, held an event that raised more $4 million for those affected by the floods in Baton Rouge.[39] Randy Jackson and Harry Connick Jr. were scheduled to host a benefit concert at the Baton Rouge River Center Theatre on September 5, featuring over a dozen artists, and all proceeds went to the American Red Cross Louisiana Flood Relief fund.[47] Following a school board meeting on Thursday, September 9, Assistant Superintendent Stephen Parill announced the "known and confident updates" for the 2016 Academic Calendar.[52] Transportation was a challenge for many districts across the state, as many kids were displaced from their homes and many school buses were damaged from flood water.[4] FEMA, which has stepped in to help homeowners without flood insurance, has declared these 20 parishes as federal disaster areas: Acadia, Ascension, Avoyelles, East Baton Rouge, East Feliciana, Evangeline, Iberia, Iberville, Jefferson Davis, Lafayette, Livingston, Pointe Coupee, St. Helena, St. Landry, St. Martin, St. Tammany, Tangipahoa, Vermilion, Washington, and West Feliciana.[61][62][63] For business continuity and community rebuilding, private mobile flood recovery centers have also been made available, including a 10-piece modular building complex used in Baton Rouge by FEMA as a portable school for children of displaced families who moved north from New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina.
Louisiana parishesLouisianafloodingUnited StatesJohn Bel Edwardsstate of emergencyComiteflood insuranceFederal Emergency Management AgencyUS natural disasterHurricane Sandymesoscale convective systemlow pressureoutflow boundaryBaton RougeLafayetteWatsonThe Washington PostHurricane KatrinaLake PontchartrainHurricane IsaacNational Weather ServicemidlatitudeGulf Coastflash flood emergencyVermilionCalcasieuMermentauTangipahoaTchefuncteTickfawBogue Chittoflood stageDenham SpringsAscension ParishLivingston ParishUS Coast GuardSt. AmantLouisiana National GuardCoast GuardCajun NavySt. Bernard ParishInterstate 12cellular networkBaton Rouge River CenterAmerican Red CrossLouisiana State UniversityCatholic Charities Archdiocese of New OrleansChurch of Jesus Christ of Latter-day SaintsCelebration ChurchChurch of ScientologybrisketTaylor SwiftLady GagaInternational Charter on Space and Major DisastersBaton Rouge Area FoundationDonorsChoose.orgRandy JacksonHarry Connick Jr.benefit concertEllen DeGeneresBritney SpearsEast Baton Rouge ParishNorthshoreDenham Springs High SchoolLive Oak High SchoolDenham Springs Freshman HighJohn WhiteLouisiana Correctional Institute for WomenSt. GabrielElayn Hunt Correctional Center18-wheelerNational Flood Insurance ProgramSt. Helena ParishAcadiaAscensionAvoyellesEast Baton RougeEast FelicianaEvangelineIberiaIbervilleJefferson DavisLivingstonPointe CoupeeSt. HelenaSt. LandrySt. MartinSt. TammanyWashingtonWest Felicianabusiness continuitymobile flood recovery centersmodular buildingportable schoolNew OrleansBibcodeYahoo! NewsThe AdvocateLouisiana Department of Corrections