A flash flood watch was issued for much of south Louisiana as the region braces for multiple days of heavy rain that could cause street and flash flooding.
According to the National Weather Service, rain will come in multiple rounds, starting Tuesday afternoon and continuing through Thursday. A flash flood watch will be in effect for much of the region from 7 p.m. Tuesday through Thursday evening.
New Orleans can expect 5 to 8 inches of rain in the coming days. Baton Rouge could see up to 10. Officials have opened sandbag sites at nine locations in the area.
State Climatologist Jay Grymes spoke to Bob Pavlovich about the weather to come and the hazards people should watch out for.
This interview was edited for length and clarity.
BOB PAVLOVICH: Jay, what kind of rainfall totals are we looking at across the region over the coming days?
JAY GRYMES: Well, for south Louisiana, there's some evidence that we could be seeing anywhere from five, six, maybe even seven inches of rain, uh, with some locally higher totals.
And, you know, you pack that into three days. That's really almost two months worth of rain in less than a week. That's gonna create some problems, no doubt about it.
PAVLOVICH: Baton Rouge and Lafayette have a high chance of severe flash flooding. Is that still holding true? What, what do we know as of now?
Yeah, that's certainly gonna be an issue and for most communities it'll be manageable.
But one of the other things we've gotta think about here is, uh, how quickly some of the smaller rivers in south Louisiana are gonna rise, given those kinds of numbers. I do expect to see, uh, a number of rivers go into flood by the time, uh. We get into Thursday and Friday.
PAVLOVICH: And what about New Orleans? What are they looking at?
GRYMES: New Orleans, you're gonna get some heavy rains down there as well, although maybe not quite as much as they're calling for in Acadiana in uh uh, the Lafayette area and broader portions of Acadiana. That's where the biggest bullseye are gonna be, and some of those will sneak over into the Baton Rouge area south of the lakes though.
Still looking at, uh, maybe two to four, possibly some five inch totals there. So that's gonna create problems even for, uh, commuters and the like. So get ready for a wet stretch here. For sure.
PAVLOVICH: So Jay, what are some of the major hazards you're looking at over the coming days? What, what should people watch out for?
GRYMES: Tuesday evening and Wednesday morning especially, that's where you need to allow yourself a little extra time for travel. Could have some standing water in places. And then as we get deeper into the week with those rains just continuing to fall, that's when we're gonna start to see ponding in the usual spots.
And then, rivers, bayou creeks and channels start to get out of their banks. So folks that have a propensity for flooding in their property. This could be one of those, uh, springtime events that they, uh, often, uh, hate to see develop.
PAVLOVICH: So what do you suggest? How should people prepare, if at all?
GRYMES: Well, first thing is just to know what the flood threat is for your property and for your neighborhood. Uh, know things like, uh, travel routes. There are places in Baton Rouge, for example, that, you know, you just can't get through those streets when we see these kinds of rains. Now, the good news here is we should roll into a drier weekend, and that'll allow that runoff to dissipate and things will settle down.
But I think especially for Wednesday into Thursday with the flood watch period we have posted right now by the weather service, that's the time you need to be a little wary. You need to allow yourself a little extra time for mandatory travel. And in cases where you've got standing water in the neighborhoods, obviously limit the traveling that you do if it's at all possible.
PAVLOVICH: Louisiana State Climatologist Jay Grymes, thanks for your time.
GRYMES: You bet.
