Could Louisiana Ever Be Hit by a Tsunami?

Lafayette, Louisiana (KPEL-FM) - When it comes to weather events and natural disasters in Louisiana, we've got just about all of them.

Hurricanes, tornadoes, flooding, ice storms, and even a major snow storm last year that shut much of Louisiana down for a couple of days.

One thing you never hear anyone talk about when it comes to natural disasters in Louisiana are tsunamis.

A tsunami hitting Louisiana isn't something that could ever happen right?

Actually, there is a situation where it could happen.

Unsplash Via Matt Paul Catalano

Has A Tsunami Ever Hit Louisiana?

Believe it or not, tsunami waves have been recorded along the Gulf Coast, but they have been small, and none have ever posed a major threat.

Thankfully, Louisiana's coast isn't located where tectonic plates collide, which is the major cause of tsunamis around the globe.

Currently, there is estimated to be less than 2% chance of a tsunami hitting Louisiana in the next 50 years according to thinkhazard.org.

However, there is another event besides tectonic plates that could and would cause an estimated 15-foot high tsunami to hit Louisiana's coast according to The National Weather Service.

Unsplash Via NOAA

Could Louisiana Be Hit by a Tsunami?

The short answer is yes, Louisiana could be hit by a tsunami, and a pretty significant one.

The odds of a tsunami forming and hitting Louisiana as a result of tectonic plates colliding is very low, but there actually is something different that could happen that would definitely cause us to get hit by one.

From thelensnola.org -

Researchers with the National Weather Service say a 15-foot wall of water could roll across Grand Isle if a landslide occurred in the Mississippi Canyon, a trench in the Gulf of Mexico floor about 30 miles off the mouth of the Mississippi River.

And unlike a hurricane, residents would have just an hour’s notice, not days.

Landslides like this happen roughly every 1,000, and according to thelensnola.org, this timeline is just about up for it to happen again.

The lead forecaster and Tsunami Program Manager for the Lake Charles office of the National Weather Service Joe Rua tells thelensnola.org "It should be stressed that it is a low probability event — one in a thousand — but it still is a credible event, and would be of a high impact."

Unsplash Via Jeffrey Thümann

What Would Happen If Louisiana Got Hit By A Tsunami?

The National Weather Service in Lake Charles ran a hypothetical Mississippi Canyon landslide into the Gulf to see what the effects would potentially be for Louisiana.

As expected, the landslide caused a tsunami slapping down on Louisiana's Coast.

The computer model the National Weather Service ran was 13 miles wide, 40 miles long, and dumped enough rocks and sediment into the Mississippi Canyon to fill the Superdome 38 times.