Deadly Flooding in Louisiana

Six deaths have now been blamed on the historic flooding in Louisiana. Over the past few days, many locations have picked up over a foot of rain. In fact, some areas of southeastern Louisiana have topped 20″. The National Weather Service in Baton Rouge has compiled a list of the highest rainfall totals over the last 72 hours (list last updated Sunday afternoon). Here are the places that have reported the most rain so far:

• White Bayou/Zachary: 26.14″
• Livingston: 25.52″
• Norwood: 22.02″

Nearly 20,000 people have been rescued from floodwaters by multiple agencies assisting in the recovery. The US Coast Guard captured this aerial video on Saturday:

The Amite River Basin between Watson and Central thanks to the @uscoastguard #laflood #lawx pic.twitter.com/jKYZzpScZh

— Louisiana GOHSEP (@GOHSEP) August 13, 2016

Both Louisiana and Mississippi have declared states of emergency and on Sunday, Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwards announced that the federal government had declared a major disaster for the state. Unfortunately, more rain is in the forecast this week for some of the hardest hit areas.

The southeastern corner of Louisiana will continue to have daily chances for thunderstorms thanks to abundant Gulf moisture and a stationary boundary draped over the region. Another few inches of rain are possible by Friday.