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St. Charles Parish President Matthew Jewell has ordered a mandatory evacuation for parts of low-lying St. Charles Parish and a recommended evacuation for the entire parish.

Hahnville —  St. Charles Parish President Matthew Jewell has ordered a recommended evacuation for all of St. Charles Parish and a mandatory evacuation for areas with limited levee protection including Bayou Gauche Island, Kerry’s Point, Cajun Paradise and Lower Des Allemands. Residents choosing to evacuate should leave no later than Saturday evening.

The National Weather Service is predicting that Hurricane Ida will be a major hurricane when it makes landfall and will bring storm surges of 6-9 feet and the possibility of more than 10 inches of rain to St. Charles Parish.

The evacuation order begins Friday, August 27 at 1 p.m. For residents in need, assisted evacuations will begin Saturday and should only be used as a last resort. Anyone needing to use assisted evacuation must call the Emergency Operations Center at 985-783-5050 today, Friday, August 27.

All government buildings and the courthouse will be closed Monday, August 30 and will remain closed until storm damage is assessed.

While it is not advised, residents choosing to stay should prepare for power outages for more than one week, which could inhibit water and sewerage services along with the potential for no access to grocery stores and gas stations.

At this time, sandbag locations are open throughout the parish. Please bring your ID, take only what you need and bring your own shovel. A list of the locations can be found here.

Boat launches will be closed throughout the parish by sunrise Saturday morning. Those offshore should be in by 6 p.m. Friday. The sector gate will also be closed ahead of the hurricane.

To sign up for emergency alerts, visit www.scpemergencyalerts.com. For more information regarding Ida and St. Charles Parish, please visit our website at www.stcharlesparish.gov, Cox Channel 6, UVerse Channel 99, or follow us on Facebook (@stcharlesgov) and Instagram (@stcharlesgovernment).