1953 rains brought more than cats and dogs
There were some pretty good thunderstorms across south Louisiana on April 24, 1953 — the kind we see regularly when fronts slide through the area. Nobody suspected they were the beginning of a series of downpours that eventually sent every stream in south Louisiana way out of its banks.
Twelve people died as a direct result of the floods they caused. Damage was estimated at $35 million, second only to the harm brought to Louisiana by the great flood of 1927. The area between the Atchafalaya and Sabine rivers got the worst of it.