5-18-21
THE SAINT LANDRY PARISH SCHOOL BOARD HAS ANNOUNCED THAT THEY ARE CLOSING SCHOOLS EARLY TODAY BECAUSE OF POSSIBLE FLOODING. THE HIGH SCHOOLS AND JUNIOR HIGHS AS WELL AS HEAD START AND NORTH CENTRAL AND PALMETTO ARE CLOSING AT TWO P-M. ELEMENTARY AND MIDDLE SCHOOLS CLOSE BETWEEN TWO-TWENTY AND TWO-FORTY DEPENDING ON BUS ARRIVALS FROM THE FIRST ROUTE. SLATS ALTERNATIVE CLOSES AT ONE THIRTY AND M-A-C-A BIO MED DISMISSES AT ONE-FORTY.
SAINT MARTIN PARISH PRESIDENT CHESTER CEDARS THIS MORNING DECLARED A STATE OF EMERGENCY BECAUSE OF THE STORMS. A NO WAKE ZONE HAS ALSO BEEN DECLARED FOR LOWER SAINT MARTIN PARISH UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE. SIX SELF SERVE SANDBAG LOCATIONS HAVE BEEN SET UP THROUGHOUT THE PARISH. VERMILLION PARISH HAS ALSO SET UP FIVE SANDBAG SELF SERVE STATIONS IN VARIOUS LOCATIONS. LAFAYETTE PARISH HAS SET UP LOCATIONS FOR PEOPLE TO FILL SANDBAGS INCLUDING THE NORTH DISTRICT SITE ON DUGAS ROAD AND FOSTER PARK IN YOUNGSVILLE. THERE’S ALSO SANDBAG LOCATIONS IN DUSON PARK, THE CARENCRO COMMUNITY CENTER AND BROUSSARD HAS THREE LOCATIONS. THERE ARE SEVEN SANDBAG LOCATIONS EACH IN IBERIA PARISH AND CALCASIEU PARISH. THE SAINT LANDRY PARISH GOVERNMENT IS ISSUING SANDBAGS AT THE YAMBILLE BUILDING ON HIGHWAY ONE NINETY. TO FIND THE SPECIFIC LOCATIONS, GO TO KAJN.COM.
THERE WERE REPORTS YESTERDAY OF A POSSIBLE TORNADO NEAR LYONS POINT IN ACADIA PARISH THAT CAUSED HEAVY DAMAGE TO A HOME’S ROOF, BUT NO INJURIES. SEVERAL TRAILERS FLIPPED IN JEFF DAVIS PARISH. IT WAS BELIEVED TO BE CAUSED BY HIGH WINDS OR TORNADOES. TREES AND POWER LINES WERE ALSO KNOCKED DOWN IN THAT AREA. SEVERAL PEOPLE NEAR PORT BARRE ALSO REPORTED SEEING A POSSIBLE TORNADO.
THE STORMS YESTERDAY RESULTED IN MAJOR POWER OUTAGES FOR SLEMCO CUSTOMERS. MORE THAN THREE THOUSAND WERE WITHOUT POWER FOR A TIME IN LAFAYETTE, ACADIA, SAINT MARTIN AND VERMILLION PARISHES. SPOKESPERSON MARY LAURENT SAYS THE OUTAGES WERE CAUSED BY HEAVY RAINS, WINDS AND A POSSIBLE TORNADO. SHE SAYS CREWS WORKED THROUGHOUT THE EVENING TO RESTORE POWER TO RESIDENTS AND BUSINESSES. HUNDREDS OF RESIDENTS IN GUEYDAN WERE WITHOUT POWER LAST NIGHT BECAUSE OF A TRANSFORMER THAT BLEW UP, POSSIBLY BY A LIGHTNING STRIKE.
SEVERAL MOTORISTS TRIED TO GO THROUGH FLOOD WATERS AT THE INTERSECTION OF CAMELIA BOULEVARD AND JOHNSTON STREET YESTERDAY. SOME STALLED AND THE DRIVERS HAD TO GET OUT AND PUSH THEIR VEHICLES OUT OF THE WAY. ONE DRIVER TOLD KLFY TV IT WAS MONSOON LIKE CONDITIONS. DOZENS OF CARS WERE STUCK IN TRAFFIC FOR HOURS WAITING FOR THE WATERS TO DRAIN.
Flags at Louisiana’s Capitol and other state buildings are being lowered to half staff in memory of former Gov. Buddy Roemer. Roemer died Monday at age 77, surrounded by family at his Baton Rouge home. Roemer was a conservative Democratic congressman from north Louisiana when he entered the 1987 governor’s race and ousted populist Democrat Edwin Edwards. Roemer became a Republican in 1991.
AFTER DROPPING BY THIRTY-ONE IN YESTERDAY’S REPORT FROM THE LOUISIANA DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH, COVID-NINETEEN HOSPITALIZATIONS ROSE BY NINETEEN TODAY. THE NUMBER OF PATIENTS ON VENTILATORS EDGED UP BY ONE. LOUISIANA HAD THREE HUNDRED SEVENTY-THREE NEW CONFIRMED CASES, MOVING THE TOTAL PAST THREE HUNDRED NINETY-FIVE THOUSAND. THERE WERE SEVEN MORE DEATHS STATEWIDE.
SOUTHWEST LOUISIANA HAD NO NEW DEATHS. ACADIANA HAD ONE MORE DEATH, WHICH WAS IN LAFAYETTE PARISH. THERE WERE EIGHTY-THREE NEW CASES IN ACADIANA. THAT INCLUDES TWENTY-ONE IN LAFAYETTE PARISH, WHICH MOVES THE TOTAL OVER TWENTY-ONE THOUSAND FOR THE FIRST TIME. SOUTHWEST LOUISIANA ADDED SIXTEEN NEW CASES, LED BY CALCASIEU PARISH WITH TWELVE.
