ST. JOHN – Parish President Bill Hubbard and Emergency Operations Officials issued a Mandatory Evacuation Order for the entire parish effective 8:00 pm August 30th.  In conjunction with the Mandatory Evacuation Order, the Parish President has issued an Executive Order banning the sale of alcohol, weapons, and ammunition within the borders of St. John Parish. In addition, on Sunday August 31st a curfew will take effect between 10 pm and 6 am nightly until further notified.

All citizens are urged to immediately execute their evacuation plans, finalize securing their property and be prepared to be away from their homes for several days.

Also, localized flooding is likely within several areas of St. John. All residents in low-lying areas are urged to evacuate immediately.  St. John is expecting the level of Lake Pontchartrain to rise as GUSTAV moves closer to the coast and as a result the capacity of the parish’s drainage system will be greatly reduced.

“I urge all residents to evacuate safely and as soon as possible and remind everyone to attempt to evacuate before Contra-flow begins Sunday at 6am..  If they leave now they can go where they were planning to go, but after Sunday morning, citizens will go where the plan takes them,” Parish President Bill Hubbard said.

All government agencies will be closed Sept 2-3, 2008 and that schedule will be reevaluated as more is known of the storm’s actual landfall location.

Citizens are urged to stay tuned to 870 AM while evacuating and to the parish’s website, www.sjbparish.com upon reaching their destination for constant local news and updates.