Flash Flood, Rapides
- When
- September 8, 12:00 PM CST to 2:00 PM CST
- Where
- Rapides County, Alexandria
- Property damage
- $50,000
- Reported by
- NEWSPAPER
- Coordinates
- 31.199, -92.533 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Flash Flood in Louisiana, September 8, 2001
Over five inches of rain fell in less than two hours, resulting in significant urban flooding that damaged numerous cars in the city of Alexandria.
Where it happened
Every event with a place to put it; 1 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. Tap one for its entry below.
- Tornadoes
- Tropical storms and surge
- Floods
- Wind
- Hail
- Winter weather
- Heat and drought
- Cold
- Fire, smoke and dust
- Marine and coastal
- Other
The toll
- Deaths
- 0
- Injuries
- 0
- Property damage
- $50,000
- Crop damage
- None recorded
- Events
- 1
Deaths and injuries are direct and indirect together, as the offices filed them. Damage is property and crops in the dollars of the year, not adjusted for inflation, and only where an office estimated it.
What happened
The episode as NWS LCH wrote it up.
Over five inches of rain fell in less than two hours, resulting in significant urban flooding that damaged numerous cars in the city of Alexandria.
What forecasters said that day
The local office's own words before the first event, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.
NWS Lake Charles, LA wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Sep 8, 8:54 AM CST, 3 hours 6 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Sep 8, 8:54 AM CST, 3 hours 6 minutes before
SOUTHWEST LOUISIANA AND SOUTHEAST TEXAS FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA 300 AM CDT SAT SEP 8 2001 NOT MANY CHANGES NEEDED TO FORECAST. SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS OVER SOUTHERN PARTS OF THE AREA WILL LIKELY KEEP TODAY/S HIGH TEMPERATURES IN THE UPPER 80S AS PREVIOUSLY FORECAST. OVER NORTH...HIGHS TODAY... FORECAST AT 89...COULD MAKE 90 SO WILL UPDATE FORECASTS TO CALL FOR TODAY/S HIGHS NEAR 90 NORTH. NO OTHER CHANGES NEEDED AT THIS TIME EXCEPT TO INCREASE POPS WHERE RAIN IS LIKELY TO OCCUR THIS AFTERNOON. .LCH...NONE .PRELIM NUMBERS... AEX 89/73/87/66/87/63 635440 BPT 89/75/88/68/88/67 63542- LCH 89/75/88/68/88/67 63542- LFT 88/75/88/68/88/68 635443
The radar
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
Event by event
1 flash flood. Local standard time, as filed.
What these are
- Flash Flood
- Flooding that begins within six hours of the rain that causes it, or of a dam or levee failure or ice jam release, often with deadly speed.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
The same day elsewhere
- Lightning Strike in Florida, September 8, 2001
- Damaging Wind in Illinois, September 8, 2001
- Damaging Winds in Michigan, September 8, 2001
- Lightning Strike in Missouri, September 8, 2001
- Flash Flood and Hail in Arkansas, September 8, 2001
- Tornadoes and Flash Flood in Texas, September 8 to 9, 2001
- Flash Flooding and Hail in Oklahoma, September 8, 2001
- Lightning Strike in Florida, September 8, 2001
- Damaging Winds and Lightning Strike in Indiana, September 8, 2001
- Lightning Strike in Alabama, September 8, 2001
- Flash Flooding and Damaging Wind in Mississippi, September 8, 2001
- Lightning Strike in Arkansas, September 8, 2001
More
Every storm in Louisiana in 2001Every state in 2001This day in weather historyWarnings in Louisiana, September 2001
Sources
NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database, compiled from the National Weather Service’s monthly Storm Data. Complete through 2026-06; NCEI adds each month about 75 days after it ends and revises past years a few times a year. Rebuilt 2026-09-24. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 5270333.