# Historic Louisiana Flooding? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 17, 2016, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/historic-louisiana-flooding/763031 "2016-08-17T00:16:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Slash1972](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slash1972/32/6461_2.png) [@Slash1972](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slash1972)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2016, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/historic-louisiana-flooding/763031/1 "2016-08-17T00:16:37Z")
Why do all the news outlets say this is “historic” flooding? Is it any different than Katrina flooding? Why is THIS year ‘historic’? ---
**Author:** ![PastTense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pasttense/32/14550_2.png) [@PastTense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastTense)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2016, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/historic-louisiana-flooding/763031/2 "2016-08-17T00:57:31Z")
It’s record breaking (maximum precipitation and maximum river stage) in several of the areas it hit. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2016, 1:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/historic-louisiana-flooding/763031/3 "2016-08-17T13:14:08Z")
> [@Slash1972](#): > > Why do all the news outlets say this is “historic” flooding? Is it any different than Katrina flooding? Why is THIS year ‘historic’? This flooding is not due to a hurricane (an event which happens somewhere in the region more than once every hurricane season), but rather due to levels of more routine precipitation in the region in excess of what they expected. Such heavy rains as were seen in Louisiana just recently only occur once every 500 year, on average. ---
**Author:** ![bordelond](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bordelond/32/150_2.png) [@bordelond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bordelond)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2016, 1:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/historic-louisiana-flooding/763031/4 "2016-08-17T13:28:48Z")
Also, important to note for those not from the area: There’s very little overlap between the areas that flooded for Katrina (centered around New Orleans, LA) and those that have just flooded (centered around Baton Rouge, LA and Lafayette, LA). ---
**Author:** ![snowthx](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowthx/32/10660_2.png) [@snowthx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snowthx)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2016, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/historic-louisiana-flooding/763031/5 "2016-08-17T18:29:02Z")
From what I gather, many of these areas have not been flooded in a generation or longer - in some cases not in recorded history. I guess that makes it “historic”. The amount of rain they got earlier this week was insane - something like 5-10 inches in an afternoon, for several days. I suspect that amount of rainfall in such a short period is also historic. ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/46a35a/32.png) [@Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_T-Bonham.net)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2016, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/historic-louisiana-flooding/763031/6 "2016-08-17T19:50:06Z")
> [@snowthx](#): > > The amount of rain they got earlier this week was insane - something like 5-10 inches in an afternoon, for several days. I suspect that amount of rainfall in such a short period is also historic. But as climate change (‘global warming’) continues, such events are becoming much more common. So soon we will not be able to call them’historic’ any more (though no doubt the media will continue to do that for quite a while).