Downpours to aggravate recovery efforts in flood-ravaged Louisiana through midweek

By Renee Duff, AccuWeather.com Meteorologist

August 22,2016; 11:02PM,EDT

 

 

Downpours will persist over flood-ravaged areas of Louisiana through the middle of the week.
"A front will stall out near the Gulf Coast, leading to a couple of unsettled days across the region," AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Frank Strait said.
The enhanced rainfall will only aggravate the situation in flood-ravaged Louisiana.
"The ongoing downpours will not only hinder rescue, recovery and cleanup efforts but could also lead to additional incidents of flooding," AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Alex Sosnowski said.
Daniel Stover, 17, loads personal belongings from a friend's home flooded home in Sorrento, Louisiana, Saturday, Aug. 20, 2016. (AP Photo/Max Becherer)
During the third week of August, Louisiana endured what the Red Cross described as the "worst natural disaster to strike the United States since Superstorm Sandy."
An area of low pressure crawled along the Gulf Coast states and dumped over 30 inches of rain in parts of Louisiana.
"Much of this rain fell during a two-day period and correlated to a 1,000-year rainfall event," Sosnowski said.
At least 13 people have died in the flooding, while roughly 60,000 homes have been damaged, according to the Associated Press. More than 30,000 people were rescued.
While the rainfall over the next few days will not be nearly as significant as what fell this past week, it will not take much additional rainfall to cause flooding problems.

"Any additional rain is unwanted there right now," Strait said.
Those who are outside helping with clean-up efforts should be mindful of the threat for storms each day and seek shelter at the first rumble of thunder or stroke of lightning.
In addition to aggravating the ongoing flooding situation in Louisiana, slow-moving downpours could spell flooding trouble for some communities farther west in central and southern Texas, including San Antonio and Austin.
Drenching storms prompted numerous road closures and water rescues in the suburbs of San Antonio and Austin during Saturday night into Sunday. Between 4 and 11 inches of rain fell across some communities.
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While bringing the threat for flooding, the downpours will also drastically reduce visibility and slow motorists along portions of interstates 10, 35, 45 and 49.
As downpours lessen in central and southern Texas beyond Monday, locally drenching storms will continue in southern Louisiana.