One Day. One Flood. One Parish Forever Changed.
1,000-Year Flood Hits Avoyelles:
Tropical Storm Arthur leaves flooded homes, stranded families and a recovery that will reshape the parish for months to come.
By Dr. Jay Callegari
This article is sponsored by:
Ducote Flooring: Check out their facebook page. https://www.facebook.com/ducoteflooring
Maria Mallorca • June 13, 2025
Thank you to these local sponsors!
For nearly a century, the Great Flood of 1927 has stood in Avoyelles Parish history as a measure of what high water can do to a community.
Now, June 18, 2026, will stand beside it.
The remnants of Tropical Storm Arthur moved across the parish on Thursday, June 18, bringing extraordinary rainfall, flooded homes, closed roads, stranded families and a recovery effort that remains underway more than a week later.
Arthur did not arrive as a major hurricane. There was no widespread wind destruction or storm surge. Instead, it brought something far more difficult for an inland parish to escape: overwhelming rain.
In a matter of hours, rain fell faster than ditches, culverts, bayous, fields and roadways could handle it. Water filled yards, crossed highways, covered rural roads and entered homes that residents said had never flooded before.
For many families, the flood was not simply a weather event. It was water rising through a front door, furniture floating in a living room, family photographs ruined, floors destroyed and the sudden realization that home would not be livable for some time.
More than 20 inches of rain was reported across several parts of southern Avoyelles Parish, including areas near Plaucheville, Long Bridge, Cottonport, Dupont, Yellow Bayou, Hickory, Moreauville, Mansura and Simmesport. An extreme storm-total rainfall report near Cottonport exceeded 29 inches.
The rain overwhelmed the parish’s drainage system. Bayous rose, fields filled, ditches backed up and roads became impassable. In some areas, water continued to rise even after the heaviest rain passed as runoff and backwater moved through the already-full system.
The hardest-hit areas included Plaucheville, Dupont, Long Bridge, Cottonport, Moreauville, Simmesport, Hessmer, Mansura, Bordelonville, Yellow Bayou and rural communities between them.
Emergency crews responded throughout the parish. Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries agents, Louisiana State Police, local fire departments, law enforcement officers and volunteers used boats and high-water vehicles to reach residents and pets trapped by floodwater.
The work did not end when the rain stopped.
By the sixth day after the storm, residents in Plaucheville, Bodoc and beyond were still dealing with water in and around homes as the flood slowly moved through low-lying areas. Some families could not yet begin a full cleanup or determine the complete extent of their losses because water remained around their property.
Conditions were expected to improve as the remaining water continued to drain. But for many families, the water leaving would mark only the beginning of recovery.
Once floodwater recedes, homes must be emptied. Flooring, sheetrock, furniture and appliances often have to be removed. Families must deal with mold, sewage contamination, electrical damage, insurance questions and the difficult task of deciding what can be saved.
Across the parish, that work is already underway. Families are carrying ruined belongings to the roadside. Volunteers are delivering water, food, cleaning supplies and other necessities. Fire departments, churches, community organizations, businesses and neighbors have stepped forward to help people who were displaced or left without basic needs.
The Moreauville Fire Department has served as a major point for supplies and recovery information, while relief efforts have reached families in Plaucheville, Simmesport, Dupont and other affected areas. Residents have also been urged to report flood damage to help document the full scale of the disaster and support requests for available state and federal assistance.
Building A Better Avoyelles is accepting donations to assist local flood victims. The organization has said 100 percent of donated funds will go directly toward helping Avoyelles Parish families recover. State Representative Daryl Deshotel has pledged to match donations dollar-for-dollar, up to $20,000.
Freelance meteorologist Nick Mikulas, who followed the storm closely, described the event as at least a 1,000-year flood, likely more rare.
“This was a flat out insane event that surprised everyone with its magnitude,” Mikulas said.
That description reflects the extraordinary scale of the rainfall, not a prediction that Avoyelles Parish could not face another major flood sooner. But it does explain why so many longtime residents were stunned by what they saw.
Homes flooded that had never flooded before. Roads disappeared under water. Families were rescued by boat. And in the days that followed, Avoyelles Parish responded in the way small communities often do in their hardest moments: neighbors helped neighbors.
The water will recede. The roads will reopen. Homes will be cleaned and rebuilt.
But June 18, 2026, will remain a date Avoyelles Parish does not forget.
HOW TO HELP
Building A Better Avoyelles is accepting donations for families affected by the flood. State Representative Daryl Deshotel has pledged to match donations dollar-for-dollar, up to $20,000.
Donations may be made through the organization’s PayPal link on the Avoyelles Today Facebook page, at avoyellestoday.com or in person at 208 N. Washington St. in Marksville. Families seeking assistance may apply through the flood-relief application shared by Building A Better Avoyelles and Avoyelles Today.
This article is sponsored by:
Ducote Flooring: Check out their facebook page. https://www.facebook.com/ducoteflooring
Maria Mallorca • June 13, 2025Thank you to these local sponsors!
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