2022 LSU Gumbo - Book - Page 84
Floods in
Louisiana
The flash flooding events that many Louisiana cities
experienced on Monday, May 17, 2021, amidst a series of
severe storms added to the devastating effects of recent
natural disasters and highlighted the deep infrastructural
issues within the state.
Throughout Monday night and Tuesday morning, cities
around Louisiana experienced 10-15 inches of rain in less
than 12 hours. Lake Charles Mayor Nic Hunter estimated
that water damaged 400 to 500 buildings in his district.
At least five storm-related deaths occurred, with some
individuals still missing. East Baton Rouge Mayor Sharon
Weston Broome said the city’s emergency departments
received over 800 calls during the storm, and city-parish
responders rescued over 250 EBR residents.
LSU’s campus experienced low levels of flooding as
well, with numerous cars submerged in water and some
surrounding apartments experiencing damage. On campus,
most buildings with basements faced issues of water
intrusion, including Coates, Allen and Atkinson, Executive
Director for Facility and Property Oversight Tammy
Millican said. The intersection of Nicholson and Burbank
were hit pretty hard and Stanford Avenue was shut down
due to flooding.
Mass communication senior Ricky Bryant described
seeing several cars outside his Nicholson Gateway
apartment flooding, and residents’ feverishly moving their
vehicles to the third level of the parking garage to avoid
the rainfall.
“Some of the cars were getting so badly flooded out that
the horns were going off, the electronics were spazzing
out,” Bryant said.
Recent marketing analytics graduate Garrett Phillips
is living with his family in Lake Charles over the summer
and said the flood and storms set back much of the
progress the community was making after the hurricanes
and winter storms of the last year.
Phillips was at a friend’s house when the water levels
began rising, he said. There was no warning about how
severe the storms would be that night.
“We came to the realization, ‘this water is coming in
Page by Gabe Henderson
Story by Madelyn Cutrone & Caden Lim
Photos by Chynna McClinton
the house,’” Phillips said. “We started moving everything
to higher shelves, started doing everything you do for a
flood. We were thinking ‘this can’t be real after everything
that’s happened.’ But you come to terms with it and go into
survival mode, doing all you can. We’ve all experienced it
before, so it’s almost natural, in a weird way.”
Phillips said they climbed onto the roof of his friend’s
house and saw that the whole neighborhood was flooding.
They eventually swam to a dry area so Phillip’s father could
bring them to a safe location.
The next day, a tornado ripped through Phillips’s
family’s backyard, tearing down a recently built fence and
nearly flipping the trailer he was living in. As soon as the
storm subsided, he made his way back to Baton Rouge.
“I’ve had enough of this,” he said.
Some say that natural disasters are becoming so
common and severe that it is driving people out of
Louisiana cities. Phillips said when his father retires in
three to four years, his parents plan to move. When asked
if Phillip would stay to develop his career in the state, he
said “absolutely not at this point.”
“I’m staying here for the summer, but there’s no way
I can live there anymore,” Phillips said. “It’s out of the
question.”
Construction management sophomore Esten Fuselier
said the rain affected his jobs at both the concrete
company he works for and at Mike’s in Tigerland. He said
the water delayed much of the work his company needed
to get done and the flooding around the ditch near Fred’s
affected business at all the bars in Tigerland.
“People don’t go out with bad rain,” Fuselier said, “so we
got less people than we already do since it’s summertime
and we don’t make as much profit.”
Assistant professor of environmental sciences Brian
Snyder said the reason Baton Rouge and surrounding
areas have experienced so many episodes of flooding is
due to two main causes: the building of houses and paving
of concrete, paired with the immense rainfall that occurs
in coastal regions.