In August 2016, the skies opened up on Louisiana: two feet of rain. The results were ruinous for many residents, with 32″ measured near Watson, LA and dangerous levels experienced on the Amite and Comite rivers. From the Wikipedia page for the event:
Early on August 11, a mesoscale convective system flared up in southern Louisiana around a weak area of low pressure that was situated next to an outflow boundary. It remained nearly stationary, and as a result, torrential downpours occurred in the areas surrounding Baton Rouge and Lafayette.
The following excerpt is from Loren Eiseley’s “It is the Rain that Tells You” (The Innocent Assassins)
Rain is the world’s intent, it lashes every furrow,
stifles all cries of parting or farewell
beneath the sound of eavespots and of gutters.
Now bolts split, windcocks spin, skies open;
this rain is driving toward the end of time.
No sudden hush, no light toward morning ever
will break this steady pouring. I depart
just as I came, at midnight, with rain falling.
It is the rain that speaks last to the heart.
