The multi-day flood emergency spanning the central United States showed tentative signs of easing Tuesday, with the National Weather Service carrying 63 active Flash Flood Warnings — down from 80 at the same point Monday — yet the 11-state footprint remained intact and Louisiana emerged as a fresh focal point as new warnings were issued across the state’s interior parishes.
The National Weather Service in Lake Charles issued Flash Flood Warnings Tuesday morning for southwestern Rapides Parish and southeastern Vernon Parish in central and west-central Louisiana, where Doppler radar indicated thunderstorms had deposited 2 to 4 inches of rain by mid-morning with additional accumulation expected before warnings expired at 11:30 a.m. CDT. Avoyelles Parish was also among active alert zones, extending the flood threat across a contiguous band of central Louisiana that had not been the primary story through the weekend.
In Missouri, the Osage River system remained in flood. The National Weather Service extended Flood Warnings for the Osage River at Taberville, affecting Vernon and St. Clair counties, and continued a separate warning for the Little Osage River near Horton in Vernon County, where minor flooding is forecast along communities including Fulton and Horton. River-based flooding of this kind typically lags rainfall by hours or days, meaning elevated water levels in Missouri may persist even as new storm activity diminishes.
Along the Texas Gulf Coast, warnings remained active in Jackson, Aransas, Kleberg, Nueces, and San Patricio counties — the same stretch of coastline that became the story’s center of gravity Monday. Residents near Corpus Christi should continue to monitor National Weather Service updates as warning status in the surrounding counties remained fluid Tuesday morning. Oklahoma’s Ottawa County also carried an active alert.
The remaining states in the warning footprint — Alaska, Alabama, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, and Mississippi — all held at least one active alert, keeping the geographic scope of the event essentially unchanged from Monday despite the reduced total count.
The National Weather Service repeated its consistent guidance across all warned zones: do not attempt to drive through flooded roads, and do not bypass barricades. The agency noted that most flood deaths occur in vehicles.
River gauges in central Missouri and the lake-Charles corridor of Louisiana warrant particular attention through midweek, as runoff from multi-day rainfall totals continues to work through drainage systems well after storm cells move on.