It seems as though it all came at once and did not stop. The morning rains Thursday had commute traffic searching for higher grounds to avoid having a stalled car. There were several accidents, cars in the ditch, cars, and trucks wiping out and cars stalled on the roads due to the high water.
I left Broussard at 5:05 heading to the radio station. At the time, the area has a steady to hard rain falling. As I approached the airport on US 90 I noticed a few cars in front of me driving a bit less than the posted speed limit. The cars hit an area of standing water on the highway. Both cars went hydroplaning across US 90 and it is still a mystery they did not crash.
This was the start of a white knuckle drive into the office this morning. The Evangeline Thruway from the airport, north to Second Street was flooded. It looked like a canal. Of course, you had those drivers trying to navigate too fast and then you had those going to slow. The best place to be was in the center lane as it was the highest section of the highway.
There were the drivers who sought the safety of area businesses parking lots along US167. The traffic at this hour was light yet, vehicles were scattered all along US167. Most were trying to get to some place of safety and you had the stalled cars and trucks that were scattered in the road. If the water rose too high for your car or truck, there was no way to turn around and the only option was to continue forward or pull off the highway into a parking lot. At 5:25 these available parking lots were filling up quick and many parking lots had plenty of standing water.
There were stalled cars at the intersections throughout US167. Residents were upset because of the traffic, the stalled vehicles and the rate of speed some of the larger cars and trucks plowed through the rivers and canals these side streets and highways became.
A commute which normally takes between 13-15 minutes took a total of 50 minutes to get from Broussard to Delta Media Corp. in Carencro today.
For a moment I thought Moss Street north would have been a better route but I was quickly disappointed as it seems the water was deeper on Moss as I quickly discovered.
I made my way to Castille which was flooded heading west toward I49. I crossed over to the eastbound lane, heading west. Fortunately, there was no traffic. I entered the red light intersection the wrong way to hit US167/ I49N.
Once on I49 going north, traffic was steady, and water was on the road but not to the extent of what I left behind me in Lafayette.
This is a commute I will not soon forget.