Flooding in LA

[Luv2Roam]

Not knowing the area -- I have been watching how St Charles is so badly flooded. Lifetime residence have said the lake has never been this high. And I wonder how many did not have flood insurance in the SW portion of LA.
Other than the severity, what made Rita so special that it flooded a lot of this area?
I suppose these are just very low laying areas to start, and several inches of rain in a short time did it.
I am just surprised this has not happened before.

 

[MagicKingdom05]

The low areas were problem some of the ones that got flooded the most. As far as flood insurance goes, someone on one of the new stations mentioned how even with flood insurance it might not cover everything. From what they were saying I guess some policies cover flooding from rain and stuff, but has very stricked language as far as hurricanes goes.

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

It was a huge rain maker.

She flooded some streets in our neck of the woods on the east coast of Florida (space coast)....these streets need a heck of a lot of rain to flood. And we aren't in a flood zone. ChrissyK saw two vans float down her street and she is one neighborhood over from mine. This is an abnormal occurrance.

Both her and I have obtained flood insurance (in affect in another week or two!!) b/c the risk is just too high. One catasrophic hurricane..and it is all over. We are flood zone X.

Hurricanes have multiple concerns..high winds and lots of rain...slow movers tend to bring lots of rain.

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

Hurricane policies are usually written as coverage for "wind driven rain"....and does not cover "rising water".

 

[MagicKingdom05]

Lisa loves Pooh,

That is what I thought, but wasn't sure.

 

[Luv2Roam]

Don't get me wrong -- I know that Rita was a rainmaker. But one of our hurricanes last year (Jeanne??) dropped an estimated 13" of rain in Kissimmee. And that is a low laying area. I don't recall flooding like I have heard in LA. Nothing near of vehicles floating away, homes flooded, etc.
What's the difference?

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

Don't get me wrong -- I know that Rita was a rainmaker. But one of our hurricanes last year (Jeanne??) dropped an estimated 13" of rain in Kissimmee. And that is a low laying area. I don't recall flooding like I have heard in LA. Nothing near of vehicles floating away, homes flooded, etc.
What's the difference?

Water needs someplace to go--if it has nowhere to go...it can flood.

How much rain did Lake charles get?

 

[Luv2Roam]

I don't know that I have heard.
That is what I am assuming -- a lake and river(s?) overflowed the banks.
Just seems strange this has not happened since roughly 40 something years.
And it is always hard to tell from news how wide spread the flooding is. The news does a terrific job of reporting. But often they over dramatize the situation.
Is the flooding just along a lake and a river? Or is it wide spread throughout LA?
We have all many lakes and rivers locally, and in low laying areas. We have been hit hard with hurricane forces in the last year. I don't know of anything as devasting as what is shown on TV.

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

No idea---I would assume not quite the interest of flooded new orleans....so not a lot of pics. I saw one pic on the front page of our paper (Florida Today)--but other than "Lake Charles", I have no idea where it is.

 

[WANNABE@WDW]

I am no expert, but our local tv stations said that the flooding was so bad because of the tidal surge from the Gulf. All the rivers , lakes, and bays have extra water from the Gulf plus all the rain from the the hurricane. Our rivers around here are still rising.

 

[Planogirl]

I wonder if a lot of the flooding isn't due to lots of rain on ground already waterlogged from Katrina?

 

[WANNABE@WDW]

Most of La has had below average rainfall this year. The part of La. that Rita hit so hard was not affected very much by Katrina. Remember, the east side of the hurricane gets most of the rain (Mississippi got hit very hard by wind and rain from Katrina). New Orleans is suffering additional flooding because of many factors (weakened levees, heavy rainfall, and high tidal surges).

 

[dixipixi]

The flooding is so severe because it is aggravated by the storm surge. Southern portions of La. are at or below sea level, so when a 10 foot wall of water comes your way...everythings covered.

The water also has a hard time draining because the wind is constantly pushing it up. It cannot drain back into the Gulf. All the rain that fell north of these areas is draining southward and has no where to go...so you get more intense flooding than you would if it was just raining.

Hard to understand from just looking at it on TV, but if you ever visit the area, it doesn't take long to see just how easy they can take on a lot of water.