Enough rain fell in Lafayette Parish Aug. 12-13 to fill 120,782 Olympic-size swimming pools, Tom Carroll, Lafayette Consolidated Government public works director, said Tuesday.
Carroll and engineer Larry Broussard tried to put the August flood into perspective for the City-Parish Council and residents at Tuesday's council meeting.
Here are some interesting facts they shared about the two-day flood event:
- On average, 17 inches of rain fell over 270 square miles that make up Lafayette Parish. That's 80 billion gallons of rain.
- Nearly 20 inches of rain fell at Lafayette Regional Airport Aug. 12-13.
- Rainfall at Ambassador Caffery Parkway and Kaliste Saloom Road was well above the 1,000-year storm mark at about 27-28 inches.
- More than 26 inches of rain fell at Councilman William Theriot's house near Verot School Road and the Vermilion Parish line, also above the 1,000-year storm event level.
- The Vermilion River at Lafayette rose nearly 9 feet Aug. 12, from 5.47 inches that morning to 14.15 inches that night.
- The river discharged water at a rate that could empty an Olympic-size swimming pool every 18 seconds for weeks after the flood.