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The heaviest rainfall from the first wave of rainfall occurred on the southshore of Lake
Pontchartrain in the New Orleans metropolitan area, with a secondary maxima on the northshore. Heaviest rainfall from the second wave occurred across the northshore of Lake Pontchartrain and coastal Mississippi.
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During each wave of rainfall, heavy, "training" thunderstorms continued to form over the same areas for multiple hours. In the New
Orleans area, pumping stations were overwhelmed and could not pump rainfall into Lake Pontchartrain as quickly as it was falling. At the time, pumping stations were only
358:, but environmental groups argued against this plan. The flood prompted expansions and improvements of the city's drainage and pumping system, especially in the worst hit portions of the city, including improvements to the underground canals under Napoleon and Claiborne Avenues in
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The entire 40-hour event from the evening of Monday, May 8, through the morning of
Wednesday, May 10, consisted of two distinct heavy rainfalls. By Wednesday morning, storm total rainfall amounts of 10 to 20 inches (250 to 510 mm) were common across portions of southeast
32:. A storm total rainfall maximum of 27.5 inches (700 mm) was recorded near Necaise, Mississippi. Considerable flooding was caused by the rainfall including several record flood crests along impacted river systems.
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Six people died as a result of the flooding. The city of New
Orleans suffered $ 360 million in damages, and the damage of the surrounding areas put that total above $ 3 billion. Some 56,000 homes were damaged in 12
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New pumping stations were built and canals were expanded to prevent further catastrophic rainfall floods. Some politicians began to push for pumping rain waters directly into the
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to the system. At the surface, warm and moist air moved in from the Gulf of Mexico continually during the event. The swath of highest rainfall totals was closely tied to a
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For both waves of rainfall, several locations neared or exceeded 24‑hour rainfall amounts estimated as having a 1% chance of being exceeded in a given year, (100 year
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326:, although the May 1995 event was more extensive and costlier than both combined. It was the worst flooding the city had experienced between hurricanes
306:. The rainfall maximum near Necaise of 27.5 inches (700 mm) was estimated as having only a 0.1% chance of being exceeded in a given year (1000 year
83:. The remains of the front served as a focusing axis for heavy precipitation that continued into the late morning hours of May 10. An upper-level
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than the tropical airmass across east
Louisiana and southeast Mississippi. By the evening of May 9, the cold front dissipated in the vicinity of
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431:, by Faiers, G.E., B.D. Keim, and R.A. Muller. 1997, Geoscience Publications: Baton Rouge, Louisiana, 40 pp. , in PDF form
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By May 10th, rainfall totals of 10-20 inches were common. Some notable two-day totals from the
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Updated
Rainfall Analysis for the May 1995 Southeast Louisiana and Southern Mississippi Flooding
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in 2005. There has been no comparable recorded flood in New
Orleans caused by rain alone.
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Approximately 5:30 p.m. on May 7... heavy rainfall begins across areas south of
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THE HISTORIC SOUTHEAST LOUISIANA AND SOUTHERN MISSISSIPPI FLOOD OF MAY 8-10, 1995
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342:. Thousands of cars were flooded. 14,600 homes and apartments were flooded in
197:. Heavy rainfall also occurs across south Mississippi, especially portions of
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in
Mississippi, each of which set new record stages (Wolf River flooding from
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projects to improve drainage in
Hollygrove connected to the 17th St. Canal.
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448:
Television clips from WVUE-tv & WDSU-tv covering the May 1995 flooding.
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The flooding caused six fatalities and more than $ 3.1 billion in damage.
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Rainfall
Frequency/Magnitude Atlas for the South-Central United States
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Evening hours on May 9... Heavy rainfall occurs across areas north of
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Technical Paper 40: RAINFALL FREQUENCY ATLAS OF THE UNITED STATES
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Television clips from WWL-tv covering the May 1995 flooding.
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New Orleans (International Airport), LA: 9.67" (246 mm)
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May 1995 Southeast Louisiana and Southern Mississippi Flood
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May 10th... severe river flooding impacts areas along the
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New Orleans (Lakefront Airport), LA: 15.44" (392 mm)
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New Orleans (Tulane University), LA: 24.05" (611 mm)
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rated to pump 1 inch (25 mm) per hour maximum.
71:approached the region from the west, preceded by a
224:areas of Louisiana and also coastal Mississippi.
220:Late evening May 9th... flooding begins in the
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483:1995 natural disasters in the United States
443:, Marcus, Frances Frank. May 11, 1995.
441:Flood Danger Rises North of New Orleans
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243:in 2012 subsequently broke the record).
414:"NOAA Technical Memorandum NWS SR-183"
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127:Totals from second wave of rainfall.
119:Totals from first wave of rainfall.
324:November 7–8, 1989 Louisiana flood
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473:1990s floods in the United States
290:Slidell, LA: 19.09" (485 mm)
265:archives and post-event surveys:
39:Rising water on Napoleon Avenue,
304:Southern Regional Climate Center
139:Early morning hours on May 8...
179:Saint Tammany Parish, Louisiana
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320:November 1979 Louisiana flood
222:Lake Pontchartrain Northshore
26:New Orleans metropolitan area
298:) as determined by both the
256:Totals for the entire event.
97:850 mb pressure surface
493:20th century in New Orleans
318:Similar floods occurred in
308:average recurrence interval
296:average recurrence interval
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416:, Retrieved on 2012-12-06.
151:, including the cities of
276:Abita Springs, Louisiana
263:National Weather Service
18:May 1995 Louisiana flood
376:Drainage in New Orleans
101:Mississippi River Delta
51:Meteorological synopsis
278:: 24.46" (621 mm)
272:: 27.50" (698 mm)
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233:Tchoutacabouffa River
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270:Necaise, Mississippi
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302:and reports by the
89:upper-level support
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199:Pearl River County
175:Lake Pontchartrain
134:Lake Pontchartrain
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478:1995 floods
165:River Ridge
153:New Orleans
81:Baton Rouge
73:squall line
62:Mississippi
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467:Categories
382:References
362:and other
229:Wolf River
191:Mandeville
69:cold front
60:and south
360:Broadmoor
350:Aftermath
187:Covington
143:began in
77:dewpoints
58:Louisiana
370:See also
340:parishes
248:Rainfall
215:Gulfport
157:Metairie
141:Flooding
111:Timeline
453:YouTube
346:alone.
332:Katrina
183:Slidell
169:Harahan
95:at the
314:Impact
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161:Kenner
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