By RYAN ARENA

As reported by Sheriff Greg Champagne

We are preparing to hunker down later this evening until the storm arrives. We will patrol the streets until conditions become too dangerous for us to be on the roads.

The latest word we have is that the storm will make landfall about 20 miles west of Grand Isle on a Northwest path. Naturally, this could change in either direction somewhat.

This tract will cause substantial storm surge in the Barataria Basin  in which the west bank of St. Charles Parish is located.

Computer models  predict a best case scenario of 7 foot storm surge on the west bank in the event of a category 3 storm.  A category 4 storm will seriously impact us with an 11 to 13 foot storm surge.  Unfortunately many residents on the East Bank has chosen to ride out the storm despite predictions of a possible category 4 storm which have a high probablity of challenging the EB protection levee.

9 to 10 inches of rain are predicted in SCP.

Last night we evacuated our jail and sent all prisoners to the Department of Corrections for holding. This will free up nearly one hundred adittional deputies to protect your property.

Last night, it appears the curfew was complied with by citizens and our presence in neighborhoods was overwhelming. While we cannot guarantee that some incidents of theft or break-ins may occur, you can feel secure as far as your homes and property are concerned.

We are also told that the maximum storm surge level may actually occur after the storm passes us.