St. John declares emergency in advance of Tropical Storm Nate
Published 2:40 pm Thursday, October 5, 2017
- Residents should make preparations for hurricane conditions including strong winds, storm surge 2-5 feet above normal conditions and heavy rainfall to begin possibly impacting the area as early as Saturday.
LAPLACE — St. John the Baptist Parish is under a Hurricane Watch and Storm Surge Watch.
Residents should make preparations for hurricane conditions including strong winds, storm surge 2-5 feet above normal conditions and heavy rainfall to begin possibly impacting the area as early as Saturday. Nate is expected to make landfall on the Gulf Coast early Sunday morning.
Preparations include preparing and securing homes and businesses, reviewing evacuation plans, getting a supply kit together that includes water and non perishables and gathering important documents and medications.
Sand and bags are available at the Intersection of Bamboo Road & Indigo Parkway near Lake Pontchartrain Elementary, Railroad Avenue Fire Station near Riverside Academy, Ezekiel Jackson Park, Westbank Complex, Wallace, Edgard & Pleasure Bend Fire Stations.
St. John the Baptist Parish declared an emergency declaration Thursday in advance of Tropical Storm Nate, currently forecast to make landfall as a Category 1 Hurricane between Southeastern Louisiana and Mississippi early Sunday morning.
Street flooding is occurring on Old Hwy 51 and Peavine Road, which are closed, and Wilshire Road at the rear of River Forest and Indigo Parkway at Woodland Drive.
Storm surge amounts up to 2 to 5 feet above ground level on the East Bank are possible, which could mean flooding in low-lying areas and areas prone to flooding.
Lac Des Allemands is also being monitored with lake levels running a ½ foot above normal.
Tropical storm force winds are possible as early as noon Saturday with rainfall amounts of 2 to 4 inches, with locally higher amounts possible.
Evacuations:
A voluntary evacuation is in effect for areas North of the I-55 off ramp at LaPlace, including Frenier, Peavine and Manchac. A mandatory evacuation is under consideration for these areas on Saturday.
A voluntary evacuation is being considered for Pleasure Bend and areas north of Airline Highway that are prone to flooding and homes and businesses that flooded in Hurricane Isaac.
Residents should begin preparations in anticipation of tropical storm conditions.
Flooding & loss of power
This includes reviewing evacuation plans, securing homes and businesses for strong winds and possible water, picking up debris, tree limbs and garbage cans, moving cars to higher ground and aggressively monitoring weather stations for updates.
Residents should also obtain medications and secure important papers.
Residents who are elderly, sick or have difficulty managing on their own are encouraged to contact family members and friends and have a plan to leave their homes should it be necessary.
For special needs, call the Department of Health and Human Services at 985-536-4955.
Prepare for outages and downed power lines
Dial 1-800-9Outage to report power outages and also download the Entergy App to receive up to date outage information.
Road Closures:
Old Hwy 51 at Ruddock
Peavine Road