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The Great Louisiana Flood of 2016

As I sit here in this hotel room it is almost 5:00 AM. I slept me share last night but I am up and cannot sleep any longer. I am letting the wife and in laws get some rest but my mind wanders. It began on August 12th, 2016 in a place outside Baton Rouge, Louisiana called Denham Springs. Other places including Baton Rouge were affected also, but this is where I live. I first of all want to explain that my home is not in flood zone and my mortgage company does not require me to have flood insurance. In fact, where I live at has never flooded and I live miles from the river that flooded. I will say that my wife and I discussed having flood insurance, but we never pulled the trigger on it. All that being said...this was a freak of nature event and they are calling it a 500 year flood.

August 12th, 2016, the rains had been coming down for a while now and the roads in my subdivision were beginning to fill up with water. I was confident that it was no big deal. The rains kept coming and the water rose to where my garage door stopped. I was certain that the house was going to be fine. After all, the water still would have to rise another four to six inches to get up over my foundation.

The waters stopped rising that night and the drains started to work. Everything began to drain and by the morning of August 13, 2016, the water had completely receded. Everything in the neighborhood was good. There were some places around town that were impassable but for the most party life was about to be normal. What we didn't expect was that the Amite River wasn't done yet with us. The Amite River is usually anywhere in the seven to 15 foot depth range for a river. Much of the river has high sides. Not really a levee, but a natural cut into the landscape. The Amite river is considered at flood stage when it gets to about 29 feet and the previous flood record for the river had been around 46 feet range (give or take...I am probably wrong on this somewhat...going on memory here folks) and this time around crested over 52 feet. I read this morning that 90% of homes in Denham Springs have been flooded. Most of these home owners are not required to have flood insurance.

As the water started to rise again in certain areas of town the wife and I had a really bad feeling. There was rushing water pouring over roads at a pace quicker than I liked. We came back home and started loading up our vehicles. The in-laws lived in the same neighborhood and we called them and told them to pack their bags. Our neighbors decided they were sticking it out and decided to stay. Later I found out they had to be rescued by boat and some by helicopter. We left and within an hour our house was flooded.

We started to just go. Had no idea what direction we were going, but we were just going. We got as far as a couple towns down on the interstate before traffic came to a halt because of road closures. We ended up at a Red Cross shelter for the night and that gave me a whole new appreciation on life. The next day we heard of way to get to I-55 that was dry and decided to take this chance. We ended up driving to Jackson, Mississippi and found a hotel room. The wife, in-laws, and three dogs are all in a hotel safe and sound...and that is the important thing. But now as we try to make insurance claims, notify the government, call creditors and utilities to notify them and see if we can get a relief from payments for the time being, the wife and I are trying to figure out what we are going to do next. We have a neighbor that took a couple of pictures of our house as he went back into the neighborhood on boat. It looks like we had about six to eight feet of water in the house as far as we can tell.

I will update when I can. I want to do this as a type of record of my account. I don't know how long I will be able to keep this up but my intention is to post updates through my entire recovery. I hope that all other Badger & Blade members in Louisiana and parts of Mississippi are safe and are alright. I will try to post as I getr updates. Thanks for reading my story.

These are pictures of the main fare in Denham Springs just off the Interstate closest to my house.

$DS Flood Interstate 1.jpg$DS Flood Interstate 2.jpg

Picture of my house after about two feet has receded.

View attachment 681546

Aerial photo of my neighborhood. My house would be at the to left hand corner of the picture.

$neighborhhod flooded.jpg
 
I am sorry for you. I have had house flooding before (nothing like this) and know it is terrible. The only plus I can say is at least it is not a fire. Fire destroys all while somethings can be recovered from the water. As Copierguy said, the most important thing is that you and your family are safe. We all here are keeping you in our thoughts.
 
Glad to hear that you and your family are safe. We often underestimate the power of nature to disrupt our lives and the established order. You made a very wise decision to leave early.
 

TexLaw

Fussy Evil Genius
You, your family, and everyone else affected by this terrible event are in our constant thoughts and prayers, Don.
 
You have been in tough situations before and got through them. The most important thing is the lives of you and your family. I know it will take time to get through this but all things will pass. Good luck and God speed.
 
I hate hearing this. We just went through the same type of deal over the winter. Luckily we're pretty much back to normal now. Good luck, it gets better.
 

The Count of Merkur Cristo

B&B's Emperor of Emojis
Don:
Glad to hear that your Family and you are safe and all of you are in my thoughts and prayers.

Keep your chin up (there will be light at the end of the tunnel),...good luck and God speed!
 

Ad Astra

The Instigator
Man. Sorry to hear, Don.

As a 3x hurricane survivor, I absolutely feel for you.

Unlike a hurricane, we really didn't see this coming / know how bad it would be ...


AA
 
Thats.... Not good. I've been on the run from weather before and it's never fun. Glad to hear you and yours are fine. If there is anyway I can help just let me know and I'll see what I can do.
 
I'm glad to know ya'll were able to get out and are safe. Having been through Katrina 11 years ago, I can empathize with you. My family will be assisting in recovery efforts any way we can, so if you need anything just drop me a PM.
 
Don, I have been away on a trip and just saw this. First and foremost, I am glad that you and your loved ones are safe. If there is anything that I can do to help you, please let me know.
 
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