Floods were a frightening possibility every spring in Rapides with the Red River floods alone virtually washing away all hopes for crops during the worst of these disasters. The year after the Civil War, 1866, was one such year. Water stood three or four feet in the streets of Alexandria. A building collapsed, and a warehouse washed away.
The "Louisiana Democrat" gave a special section of its front page to advertising plantations for sale or rent, and eight or ten such notices appeared month after month. These appeared from 1866-1870. Floods came again to Alexandria and lower Rapides Parish in 1867. 1882 was the year of awesome floods, perhaps the worst the area had known.