LAPLACE – Officials in St. John the Baptist, St. James and St. Charles Parishes announced that a curfew will go into effect for all residents this evening as weather conditions continue to deteriorate.

Also, St. Charles and St. James Parishes have announced that schools will be closed for the rest of the week. Schools should reopen after Labor Day, which is Monday, Sep. 3.

Hurricane Isaac is expected to produce wind gusts up to 80 mph and rainfall amounts of 10 to 16 inches with the possibility of tidal surge from Lake Pontchartrain.

In St. John Parish, the Sheriff’s Office will enforce a curfew starting at 6 p.m. tonight until further notice. Residents are asked to stay off the roads and inside until the storm has passed.

St. James Parish’s curfew begins at 9 p.m. tonight and continues until 6 a.m. Wednesday morning.

In St. Charles Parish, Sheriff Greg Champagne has announced that a mandatory nightly curfew will be in effect throughout the parish beginning tonight at 8 p.m. until 6 a.m. Wednesday. Anyone found on the streets of the parish who are neither emergency-workers nor persons attempting to evacuate are subject to being detained and/or arrested. This curfew will be in effect until further notice.

“In order to enforce this curfew, we have increased patrols in residential areas by more than doubling our normal compliment of deputies on duty,” said Sheriff Greg Champagne. “The sole purposes of this curfew is to better enable deputies to protect the lives, safety and property of the citizens of St. Charles Parish” said the Sheriff.

Anyone willfully violating this curfew is subject to arrest. If convicted, violators face a fine of $500 and/or six months in jail.