Despite heavy rain in Washington Parish last week, only minor flooding has been reported.
The rain that poured out of the sky on Wednesday and Thursday last week, and to a lesser degree on Friday, caused high water on some streets and roads.
The Bogue Chitto River was up, creating inconvenience and concern for residents living near the river. The main issue with the river was not necessarily the local heavy rainfall, but the rainfall upriver which resulted in high water on the Bogue Chitto during the past weekend.
According to the National Weather Service, the river was at 11 feet at Franklinton on Thursday, the second day of heavy local rain. By Friday, the level had dropped to 10 feet.
But over the weekend as rainfall from upriver made its way into the parish, the Bogue Chitto started rising again. It crested late Saturday at 11.6 feet at Franklinton and by late Sunday it has dropped down to 10.2 feet.
Minor flooding along the river generally occurs at 12 feet.
The all-time high flood level on the river took place back in 1900, when the river crested at Franklinton at 29.6 feet. The second highest crest was in 1983, when it crested at 24.7 feet. During the more recent major flooding of March 2016, the river crested at 24.27 feet.
