Parish declares state of emergency with approaching storm

Sandbag locations to open tomorrow

St. Charles Parish President Larry Cochran has declared a state of emergency in anticipation of Tropical Storm Nate’s arrival.Parish officials are urging residents to monitor weather reports and prepare for tropical weather Saturday and Sunday by clearing drains and ditches around their homes and making sure all items around their property be picked up or brought inside.

As of Thursday morning, forecasters predict Nate could make landfall, potentially as a hurricane, over southeast Louisiana Sunday morning. Southernmost areas of southeast Louisiana could see tropical storm force winds by early Saturday afternoon.

In the parish, residents can report any debris piles or blocked culverts to EOC at (985)783-5050. The Department of Public Works has inspected and cleaned ditches, catch basins and drainage infrastructure parishwide.

All sandbag locations will be open by 8 :30 a.m. tomorrow (Friday). A complete list of locations is available at http://stcharlesparish-la.gov/government/special-sections/hurricane-preparedness/sandbag-locations.

The Emergency Operations Center (EOC) will have extra staff on duty throughout the event and is prepared to fully activate if needed. By 8:30 a.m. Friday, all sandbagging locations in the parish will be open.

Sheriff Greg Champagne said the St. Charles Parish Sheriff’s Office is closely monitoring the potential for a weather event during this upcoming weekend. He added all St. Charles Parish Sheriff’s Office Enforcement personnel have been placed on Hurricane Standby.

The parish’s school system is monitoring the tropical weather system with the parish’s EOC. System spokeswoman Stevie Croveto said schools will be open tomorrow (Friday) as no impact is anticipated in the area by then. The Destrehan High School football game will be held as scheduled.Since the parish is expected to begin experiencing outer bands on Saturday evening, all school system activities scheduled for Saturday and/or Sunday are being cancelled.  However, the Destrehan High School homecoming dance scheduled for this Saturday has been postponed to next Saturday (Oct. 14.As a reminder, schools will be closed Monday (Oct. 9) for the previously scheduled Fall Break. A determination regarding Monday’s school practice activities will be made by Monday morning and communicated by individual schools.  A determination regarding the opening or closing of the School Board Office on Monday will be made by Sunday evening at 6 p.m. Employees will be notified regarding Monday’s status through the district’s Blackboard Connect messaging system.

Any questions may be directed to the St. Charles Parish Emergency Operations Center at (985) 783-5050 24 hours a day.

 

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