Staff report

5:50 p.m.: According to the National Weather Service in Lake Charles, the Vermilion crested at 13.4 feet at the Surrey Street gauge early this afternoon and was down to 13.1 by 4 p.m. The nominal flood stage is 10 feet. Moderate flooding begins at 14 feet. Major flooding begins at 16 feet.

From about 4 p.m. Tuesday until noon today, about 7.1 inches of rain fell at the Surrey Street gauge. The heaviest rainfall was between 6 a.m. and 8 a.m. today, when 3.19 inches of ran fell.

4:15 p.m.: The Lafayette Parish Sheriff's Office reports high water on the following roadways:

1900 block of Gendarme

400 block of St. Pierre in Carencro

Espasie/Savoy

Ridge/E. Broussard

Chemin Metairie/Jogg

Chemin Metairie/Ambassador Caffery Parkway

Teljean at Bridge

Elias G/Breaux

Richfield/Landry

Streets previously barricaded in the city of Carencro have been opened.

3 p.m.: Lafayette has enjoyed a four-hour break in the rainfall that flooded streets this morning, but the area is under a flood warning.

The National Weather Service in Lake Charles issued a flood warning until 2:30 a.m. Thursday for Lafayette Parish, southern St. Landry Parish, northern Iberia Parish, St. Martin Parish, northeastern St. Mary Parish, Acadia Parish and northern Vermilion parish.

A flood warning means that flooding is imminent or has been reported. The rise of water in area streams should be slower than this morning and no additional flash flooding is expected today.

Flooding will continue in areas with poor drainage for several hours. Larger bayous and coulees will continue to rise, possibly through the night, in parts of Lafayette, southern Acadia and northern Vermilion parishes.

The showers should be done for the afternoon, but there's a 70 percent chance of additional showers and possible thunderstorms this evening, said Andy Tingler, meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Lake Charles.

"More rain is likely tonight and into tomorrow," he said.

There's a 60-70 percent chance of rain Thursday, a 50 percent chance Friday and a 40 percent chance Saturday. Rainfall chances drop to about 20 percent Sunday, Tingler said.

2:40 p.m.: The Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development announced additional road closures due to flooding.

Lafayette Parish: La. 339 from La. 3073 (Ambassador Caffery Parkway) to the La. 92 roundabout and La.342 (Ridge Road) between La.93 and La. 724 (South Fieldspan Road).

Acadia Parish: La. 91 Pontoon Bridge at Esterwood (This closure will take begin at 4:30 p.m.)

The roads will be reopened as soon as conditions improve.

Vermilion Parish: The bridge (Coulee Ile Des Cannes) at the Vermilion and Lafayette Parish line on Kirk Road is open to local traffic only.

2:20 p.m.: The Lafayette Parish Sheriff's Office is reporting the following additional flooded and/or barricaded intersections and roads:

Hugh Wallis and Verot School Road

Cankton and Ira

Arceneaux and Estelle - barricaded

Prejean and Gourmet - barricaded

Prejean and Wisteria Bend

Also, the Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development announced around 40 minutes ago that La. 342 (Ridge Road) between La. 93 and La. 724 (South Fieldspan Road) was closed due to flooding.

12:37 p.m.: The National Weather Service has issued a flash flood watch through 1 a.m. Thursday.

Portions of Louisiana under the watch are Acadia, Allen, Avoyelles, Beauregard, Calcasieu, East Cameron, Evangeline, Iberia, Jefferson Davis, Lafayette, Lower St. Martin, Rapides, St. Landry, St. Mary, Upper St. Martin, Vermilion, Vernon and West Cameron.

12:10 p.m.

Maintenance workers at S.J. Montgomery Elementary School were dealing with flooding in their library and in three classrooms. Principal Janine LaFleur said the water had pushed through air-conditioning vents. She said it was perhaps the third time the school has experienced flooding in the past 10 years.

11:30 a.m.: Residents in the Oak Creek subdivision in Carencro are seeing 2-3 feet of water in their neighborhood. A few homes have water coming inside. Many residents are standing outside because the water is too high to drive through to leave.

11:25 a.m. Lafayette is experiencing about a three-hour break in the rainfall, said Tim Osborn, Eastern Gulf regional manager with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration in Lafayette.

More rain is heading this way this afternoon. Osborne said the Vermilion River is going to rise about another 5 feet over the next 18 hours. Residents and businesses, particularly in the Carencro area, should keep an eye on the river, he said.

Some towns are providing sand bags, but Lafayette Consolidated Government is not at this time.

Osborn suggested buying cheap bags of topsoil as a substitute for sand bags to protect doorways.

11 a.m.: The Lafayette Parish Sheriff's Office has released an updated list of flooded roads, including some that have been barricaded due to high water:

• Smalley/Breaux – Barricaded

• Francois/Walter – Barricaded

• 700 E Verot School Rd

• Austria Road from Cameron to B Robin – Barricaded

• 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th Richfield From Hanks to North A in Duson – Barricaded

• G, F, E, D, C, B in Duson – Barricaded

• Avenue Au Nord from North A to Toby Mouton – Barricaded

The City of Youngsville has sandbags available at Public Works Department at 410 Railroad St. and Horse Farm on Iberia Street.

In Vermilion Parish, sandbags will be available at the four Parish Barns and the Public Works Facility. You must bring a shovel and fill the bags yourself. The locations are as follows:

Area 1 Barn, 13115 Mack Switch Road, Erath, LA

Area 2 Barn, 16480 Cleo Road, Abbeville, LA

Area 3 Barn, 29429 Veterans Memorial, Gueydan, LA

Area 4 Barn, 13531 Gladu Road, Kaplan, LA

Public Works Facility, 2211 Leonie Street, Abbeville, LA

10:45 a.m.: Nine inches of rain has fallen in some parts of Lafayette Parish this morning and the Vermilion River at Surrey Street and Carencro is approaching flood stage, according to Kent Kuyper, meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Lake Charles.

The Vermilion River at Surrey Street is at about 13 feet and projected to reach about 14.7 feet this afternoon, Kuyper said. It should fall rather quickly, though, he said.

At Carencro, Kuyper expects a flat crest at 20.8 feet, breaking flood stage this evening and staying above flood stage for at least a day.

Rainfall totals along the Lafayette and Acadia parish line was measured at nine inches this morning he said.

A four to five hour break is expected in the heavy rain today, but more rain is expected late this afternoon and into this evening, Kuyper said. The rainfall should taper off Saturday and end by Sunday.

"The good news is we finally got some rain and we really needed some rain," he said.

Motorists should continue to use caution in traveling roadways, Cpl. Paul Mouton, spokesman for the Lafayette Police Department, said.

Street flooding continues to be a problem along Ambassador Caffery Parkway and neighborhood streets, he said.

10:30 a.m.: Some residents have begun voluntarily evacuating their homes in the northern part of the parish,Capt. Craig Stansbury, spokesman for the Lafayette Parish Sheriff's Office, said.

He said the parish has no designated spot to send evacuees to, but that water had begun entering some homes.

Guidry's Hardware and Supply in Lafayette recommends that residents who face flooding problems should place sandbags against the doors. If water enters the home, wait for it to drain out and dry the flooring as quickly as possible using big blower fans and squeegees. Guidry's sells all of those supplies. The parish will not supply sandbags to residents until the governor declares a state of emergency.

10:15 a.m.: Tom Carroll, head of Public Works for Lafayette Consolidated Government, said his office had received calls for water problems throughout the parish, the most serious problems appeared to be in northern Lafayette and in Carencro.

Carroll said rainfall was reported in excess of 8 inches in the upper reaches of Bayou Carencro.

He said the parish has two dump trucks ready to help evacuate residents if necessary.

In Carencro, Assistant Chief Dondi Roberts said some roads have been closed, including Estelle, Walter, Smalley, Prejean and Thoroughbred, all due to flooding.

Roberts warned that traffic should move slowly, because the wakes of traffic speeding through water is pushing water into the homes.

Although roads were slick, the number of accidents was not unusually high, law enforcement officials said.

"No, nothing unusual yet," said Trooper Stephen Hammons, spokesman for Louisiana State Police, Troop I.

"Keep your fingers crossed. If drivers see some problems they need to call *LSP. We are continuing to monitor the roadways."

Water is flooding many streets in and around Lafayette and approaching some homes. City-Parish Councilman William Theriot said he received as many as 30 calls already today from constituents, some concerned that water will enter their homes soon.

"They do understand when you have that much rain coming down in that short time" there's not much you can do, Theriot said.

Lafayette Consolidated Government will not be offering sandbags until the governor has declared a state of emergency, according to the operations department of LCG.

About 150 sporadic power outages are being reported across Acadiana this morning. Youngsville residents experienced a brief outage this morning when a feeder went down, according to SLEMCO spokesperson Mary Laurent.

St. Martin Parish was hit hardest by power outages Tuesday night as electrical poles and cross arms broke and fell, she said.

Greg Roberts at the Lafayette Regional Airport said some flights were delayed this morning but that the airport was open and functioning. He said the airlines themselves decide whether flights will go, so check with the schedules of individual airlines to see if your flight is on schedule.

9 :05 a.m.:

Lafayette Parish public schools will dismiss early today due to flooding conditions throughout the parish. Middle schools will dismiss first at 9:30 a.m.; elementary schools will dismiss at 10:30 a.m.; and high schools will dismiss at noon.

Buses will arrive at schools today to pick up and drop off students at their regular stops.

Staff members will stay at all schools until all students have left. Parents can begin picking up their children at the designated dismissal times, but if th

ey cannot come until later, someone at school will stay with their child.

Click here for the latest information on schools

8:01 a.m.: The Lafayette Parish Sheriff Office reports flooding at the following streets:

• 500 block of Dugas Rd

• Willow to Pecan Grove to Ambassador Caffery

• University and St Peter

• Dugas and Roger

• 300 block of Lajaunie

• 300-400 block of Walter Dr

• Pont Des Mouton towards University

• Gloria Switch and Mill St

• Landry and Fieldspan

• Old Spanish Trail; Hanks and South Richfield Dr

• Perez to Sunset

• Renaud and Roger Rd

• 200-400 Block Rue Bon Secour

• Mills and Renaud

• Moss and Park lane

• Chemin Metairie and Briargreen

• Prejean and Gourmet

• Chemin Metairie and Gaslight

• Walter Breaux Rd and Francois/Potier Rd

• Bonin and Wind Song Rd

• 300 Lebesque; Cormier and Post

• Tabb Rd

• Dayna and Ombrage

• Mark Ridge Subdivision at Auburn

• St. Pierre and Carencro

• Dulles / Hebert / Le Violon

• LA 95 north of I 10

• 700 Malapart

• Mardi Gras/Joli/Gendarme.

Original report: A flash flood warning is in effect for parts of Acadiana until 10:45 a.m. Wednesday.

The flash flood warning includes northern Lafayette Parish, including the cities of Scott, Lafayette and Carencro; southern St. Landry Parish, including Opelousas, Leonville, Eunice and Arnaudville; and Acadia Paris, including Rayne, Mermentau, Iota, Crowley and Church Point.

According to the National Weather Service, as of 6:28 a.m., heavy rain was falling from Jennings to Lafayette and south of Opelousas. Three to 5 inches of rain have fallen in this area since 1 a.m.

A flash flood warning means that flooding is imminent or occurring. If you are in the warning area, the NWS advises you to move to higher ground immediately. Residents living along streams and creeks should take immediate precautions. Do not attempt to cross swiftly flowing waters or waters of unknown depth, either by foot or automobile.