Flooding rain storms sweep across parish

ACADIA PARISH - A strong thunderstorm system with high winds and pelting rain swept across Acadia Parish Saturday and Sunday, leaving several downed trees, many residents without power, high water in some areas and downed telephone poles which damaged the Chevron station at the corner of Odd Fellows Road and Louisiana Highway 1111 in Crowley.
Though several inches of rain fell here, there were no reports of home flooding in the city of Rayne, according to Mayor Charles “Chuck” Robichaux.
“We really had minimal flooding in town ... and the water went down pretty fast after it stopped raining,” Robichaux said.
“Overall, even the areas that had been historically tough during heavy rains — Azalea Street, Barbara Street, John Drive — we did pretty well.”
Robichaux acknowledged that some of the manhole covers were “bubbling over” at times, “but that’s because the water had nowhere to go as fast as the rain was falling.”
Tornado warnings were issued at 3:40 a.m. Sunday and residents along Quarter Pole Road and areas north reported marble-sized and larger hail. A drive along Interstate 10 Sunday showed several downed pine trees lined symmetrically on each side of the interstate between Crowley and Rayne.
More storms were forecast for Monday and Tuesday, but those predictions never came to fruition.
In Rayne, yards and streets were turned into lakes as water rose Sunday morning. However, most of the storm’s damage seemed to be concentrated north of here.
In Mire, five people and one pet had to be rescued from their homes by members of the Mire Volunteer Fire Department, according to Fire Chief Shannon Richard.
Members of the department also helped clear downed trees from roadways.
“We stayed on stand-by at the station Sunday and Monday, monitoring the flooding and in case others in the district needed any assistance,” Richard said. “It looks like we got between 8 and 10 inches of rain here.”
In Crowley, the Walmart store was closed Sunday after strong winds — possibly tornadic — knocked over electrical poles, leaving the area in the dark.