Organizers met to discuss reschedule, but ultimately decided against it
For the first time in 34 years organizers were forced to pull the plug on the Krewe of Lul parade due to severe weather that hit the area on Saturday.
Organizers met Wednesday to discuss rescheduling the parade at some point this year, but ultimately decided not to.
“When we canceled the parade, the weather was nice and a lot of people were upset, but we knew what was coming,” Organizer Debbie Dufresne Vial said.
“We might have been able to start the parade at an earlier time, but when the weather got bad we would have had a lot of people outside on the route and the people riding in the parade would have been left exposed.
“It was truly a public safety issue.”
A tornado warning was issued for the area at 1 p.m. and rain and high winds lasted much longer.
Dufresne Vial said it was impossible to hold the parade last Sunday because of the logistics nightmare it would have created for the St. Charles Parish Sheriff’s Office and the government to accommodate two parades in one day.
The Krewe of Des Allemands rolled on Sunday.
“A lot of people don’t realize what all goes into having a parade,” she said. “For the noon parade, we line up at 8 a.m., which means that police officers are set up at 7 a.m. and have to work until 6 p.m. to deal with the after-parade traffic.
“We also have to schedule road closures and the insurance that we get for the day of the parade is only good for that day. You have to rewrite the policy if you plan on parading at another time.”
Monday was also out of the question because most people didn’t have the day off, Dufresne Vial said. She added that the Krewe of Lul floats are not lit so they couldn’t ride at night either.
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