Storms slam New Orleans metro with flooding rains, tornadoes
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Many streets in downtown New Orleans flooded Wednesday. Photo: Courtesy of David Mora
Thunderstorms dumped 8 inches of rain Wednesday in parts of New Orleans, making roads impassible and putting the city at a standstill for hours.
Why it matters: It's another example of how New Orleans' infrastructure struggles during extreme weather events.
The big picture: The powerful storm system rolled through Louisiana yesterday, flooding streets, snapping trees and damaging property with 70mph+ winds.
- Too much rain fell too quickly, and pumps were not able to keep up in New Orleans and Jefferson Parish, leaders said.
- The Sewerage & Water Board also said it struggled to generate enough power to operate the pumps.
Zoom in: St. Tammany Parish President Mike Cooper signed an emergency declaration last night after he said hundreds of homes were damaged, WDSU reports.
- Two shelters are open for residents.
Injuries: Multiple people were injured in Slidell, leaders say, but their injuries were mainly minor, according to WWL.
- No fatalities have been reported in Louisiana. The storm system did claim a life in Mississippi.
By the numbers: Laplace had the most rain with 9.89 inches, followed by Hollygrove with 8.02 inches and Metairie with 7.49 inches, according to the National Weather Service and S&WB.
- Little Woods got 6.88 inches, while most of the east bank got at least 5.5 inches.
Tornadoes: The National Weather Service confirmed a tornado touched down in Slidell near Old Spanish Trail, and another one hit north of St. Francisville.
- Both were at least EF-1 tornadoes, and survey teams on Thursday plan to assess the path length, width and max wind speeds.
- Another tornado hit Lake Charles.
Flooding: Streets were inundated across New Orleans and Jefferson Parish.
- Cars stalled in the high water. A drone video showed Airline Highway completely flooded with stranded drivers.
- Water also got in some homes in Metairie and threatened to overtop canals, according to Jefferson Parish officials.
Power outages: Entergy and Cleco both reported broken poles, downed power lines and damaged crossarms.
- About 30,600 Entergy customers remained without power as of 9pm, according to the utility's outage map.
- Calcasieu Parish and Lafayette were the hardest hit areas, Entergy says, and may not have power restored until Friday.
- Cleco says about 23,000 customers in Slidell and Pearl River remain without power.
School closures: St. Tammany public schools remain closed Thursday as leaders assess building damage.
- Other schools are back in session.
Damage estimates: Official damage reports are not available yet for this storm system.
💠Thought bubble from Andrew Freedman, Axios' senior climate reporter: Conditions were ideal for heavy rainfall, damaging winds and tornadoes on Wednesday, as the NWS highlighted in high-end threat outlooks Tuesday and Wednesday.
- Slow-moving thunderstorms "training" over the same areas resulted in the flooding across the region, exacerbated by New Orleans' preexisting challenges coping with heavy rainfall.
- Climate studies show that extreme precipitation events are becoming more common and severe as the world warms, and the air carries more moisture.
