Tuesday, July 23, began with weather watchers looking upward for expected buckets of rain to fall.  It came early in the following a.m. and built into a deluge over Vernon Parish and West Central Louisiana that lasted into Wednesday afternoon.  The landscape was littered with roads covered with swollen water, fallen trees, and generally hazardous driving conditions.

By noon Wednesday, rainfall totals ranged from 7.55 inches in Hornbeck to 5.10 inches at the Leesville Municipal Airport.  Bellwood, in Kisatchie Forest, logged 5.94 inches, while in Pickering, one gauge showed 4.2 inches.  Despite the rain, the Vernon Parish Police Jury had only one road closing.  Barham Road was closed Wednesday after 1 p.m.

BECI (Beauregard Electric) reported 700 outages in New Llano due to a tree falling on power lines.  Crews were able to concentrate on the outage, and power was restored in a few hours.

Light rain fell all day Thursday with little measurable precipitation.  Rain is expected this weekend, with skies expected to clear on Monday.