August 31, 2017
By Rebecca Harrington

The end of the London Avenue pump station is seen with the New Orleans skyline in the background on August 29, 2017

While Hurricane Harvey's destruction (click here) was most severe in Texas, neighboring Louisiana didn't escape the storm's wrath.

Harvey threatened the state 12 years to the day after Hurricane Katrina ravaged New Orleans. Thankfully, the tropical storm had lost most of its bluster by the time it crossed the Texas-Louisiana border.

Areas of southwest Louisiana saw up to 22 inches of rain, though, and widespread flooding filled the streets in towns like Iowa and Lake Charles, forcing many residents to evacuate....

Up to 60 inches of rain. 5 feet. Katrina's rainfall didn't come close. It was its wind and storm surge that did the most damage and deaths.

...KMOB radar (click here) showed the greatest rainfall amounts occurred east of Katrina’s eye and very close to the coast. A general 5-10 inches of rain fell with isolated amounts exceeding 12 inches. Rain bands extending well east of Katrina’s eye brought isolated rainfall totals of 3-6 inches over extreme northwest Florida. Significantly lighter rainfall amounts (less than 2 inches) fell east of a line from Camden, AL to Evergreen, AL to Navarre, FL. The highest rainfall total observed in our county warning area was in Philpot, FL where 7.80 inches of rain fell in 48 hours. Flash flooding occurred throughout the day as Katrina made landfall due to the heavy rainfall....