A cold front moving slowly eastward across southern Louisiana brought widespread showers and thunderstorms with heavy rainfall to the entire area. This heavy rainfall caused considerable flash flooding around the Lake Charles area during the evening and overnight hours on October 26th, with flooding continuing into October 27th.

Heavy Rain in CALCASIEU, LOUISIANA
From 26-OCT-09 14:36:00 to 26-OCT-09 15:06:00 (CST-6)
Location: WESTLAKE
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Public

A CoCoRaHS observer in Westlake measured 1.52 inches of rain in 30 minutes.

Heavy Rain in CALCASIEU, LOUISIANA
From 26-OCT-09 15:00:00 to 26-OCT-09 15:31:00 (CST-6)
Location: (LCH)LK CHARLES MUNI
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: ASOS

The Lake Charles Regional Airport ASOS measured 2.00 inches of rain in 31 minutes.

Heavy Rain in CALCASIEU, LOUISIANA
From 26-OCT-09 14:51:00 to 26-OCT-09 16:51:00 (CST-6)
Location: (LCH)LK CHARLES MUNI
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: ASOS

The Lake Charles Regional Airport ASOS measured 3.97 inches of rain in 2 hours.

Flood in CALCASIEU, LOUISIANA
From 27-OCT-09 00:00:00 to 27-OCT-09 17:00:00 (CST-6)
Location: (LCH)LK CHARLES MUNI
Flood cause: Heavy Rain
Property damage: 100.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: NWS Storm Survey

An NWS storm survey indicated flooding from heavy rainfall on October 26th continued for much of the day on October 27 across areas between the Lake Charles Regional Airport and Highway 27. In this area, several roadways were closed for much of the day due to at least one foot of water covering the roadways, including Ward Line Road between Gauthier Road and Tank Farm Road, and Tom Hebert Road south of Tank Farm Road.

Flash Flood in CALCASIEU, LOUISIANA
From 26-OCT-09 17:00:00 to 27-OCT-09 00:00:00 (CST-6)
Location: BRIMSTONE
Flood cause: Heavy Rain
Property damage: 500.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: NWS Employee

Several NWS employees, the Louisiana Department of Transportation, Calcasieu Parish Sheriff Office, and local media all reported major flash flooding across this cities of Sulphur, Westlake, and Lake Charles, and in adjacent unicorporated areas to the south and east of the city. The worst flooding occurred along the Common Street/Gulf Highway corridor eastward to Highway 27 to the south of Highway 14.  In this area, numerous homes were flooded and many roadways were underwater for several hours. As rainfall ended late in the evening across the area, floodwaters subsided across the city but increased across unicorporated areas further to the south as waters drained toward the Gulf of Mexico.
Several flooded homes were reported in southeast Lake Charles on Sundale Drive at Common Street, near Kayouchee Coulee and Highway 14, and on South Meadowlark Drive at Corbina Road.  Numerous major roadways and their adjacent side streets had one half to one foot of water covering them, including Jackson Street in Sulphur, Common Street between Petro Point Drive and Gauthier Road in Lake Charles, Enterprise Blvd. near St. Louis High School in Lake Charles, and Airport Road near the NWS Lake Charles office. Several vehicles were stranded in high water on Tom Hebert Road south of Tank Farm Road to the southeast of Lake Charles, causing the roadway to be closed. The Calcasieu Parish Sheriff Office reported a total of 12 high water rescues across the parish due to vehicles being stranded in floodwaters.