Weeks Of Rain In New Orleans; City On Track To Hit Annual Average Rainfall Totals This Month [View all]

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Barry Keim knew the past few months had been unusually wet in southeast Louisiana, but it wasn’t until he looked at the latest data that it really hit him. “Good gracious, look at those numbers!” the Louisiana state climatologist exclaimed Tuesday morning when he pulled up this year’s monthly precipitation totals for New Orleans on his computer. “These are some healthy numbers, man. And we’ve got several more months to go.”

It has rained almost every day this month in New Orleans, and another wet week is in the forecast. The city is on pace to hit its annual rainfall average, about 63 inches, in just seven months and to break the record maximum of 102 inches from 1991.

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The intense, relentless rain is a product of a warming planet. It's regularly flooding streets, interrupting outdoor construction jobs, stalling lawn work and leaving golf courses devoid of golfers throughout the New Orleans area. More than eight inches of rain fell on the Mandeville area early Tuesday, swamping cars and flooding some houses as it strained the drainage infrastructure. “There's no system in America, I don't think, that's capable of handling that,” Mandeville Mayor Clay Madden said.

Standing on his porch in Mid-City New Orleans, McKinley Abram, 59, gazed across the small pond spanning the 600 block of South Solomon Street, now a breeding ground for mosquitos. Since March, Abram said, the street has rarely had enough time to dry before more rain arrives. His landlord and neighbors have called on the city officials to add proper drainage in the past, and he said this year's rainfall has only exacerbated the need.

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Water pools in the 600 block of South Solomon Street in New Orleans' Mid-City neighborhood on Tuesday. Residents say flooding has been a problem for years, one exacerbated by 2021's heavy rain.

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https://www.nola.com/news/environment/article_4a07adfa-e97f-11eb-ac34-6f67ec6302a6.html