Flooding shuts down part of I-10 in Louisiana

Massive amounts of rain have flooded parts of southern Louisiana this week, leading to road closures on U.S. and state routes.

One interstate highway also succumbed to the flooding late Monday night — a section of Interstate 10 just southeast of Baton Rouge.

Related: More major flooding expected this week in Deep South

About a 5-mile stretch remained closed between Siegen Lane and Highland Road, according to the Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development (LaDOTD) road closure map at 3:30 ET Tuesday afternoon. Louisiana traffic updates are available here.

As of 10 a.m. Tuesday, some automated weather stations in this area had reported more than 10 inches of rain since Monday. This is according to National Weather Service records.

Lake Charles, Louisiana, was hit harder Monday than any other part of the state. The city’s regional airport (ICAO code: LCH) received a daily record of 12.49 inches of rain, smashing the old May 17 record of 3 inches set in 1914. It was also the third-wettest day on record for the city. The flooding prompted water rescues, and Gov. John Bel Edwards issued a state of emergency.

Flooding hit other areas of Louisiana Monday, as well as portions of eastern Texas. Additional periods of heavy rain could virtually drown areas of Texas, Louisiana, Arkansas and Oklahoma through Thursday. Potential target cities include Brownsville, Austin, San Antonio, Houston, Texarkana, Dallas-Fort Worth and Wichita Falls in Texas; Lake Charles, Baton Rouge, New Orleans and Shreveport in Louisiana; as well as Oklahoma City.

Click here for more FreightWaves articles by Nick Austin.

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