LAPLACE – With Hurricane Barry lingering at the Louisiana Coast, officials are reporting most local impacts will take place after an early afternoon landfall.

The storm has tracked West, while much of the rain remains on the east side of the system.

Water Levels

St. John the Baptist Parish is monitoring the water levels and reported the following measurements just before 9 a.m. Saturday:

River – Reserve Gauge

• Friday- 23.12
• Saturday- 23.04

Lake – I10 Gauge

• Friday- 4.48
• Saturday- 3.85

(For reference, water starts to encroach on low-lying roadways in some areas when lake levels reach 6 feet.)

Swamp – Garyville Gauge

• Friday – 1.60
• Saturday – 1.75

Other gauges will be posted once water reaches a recordable level, according to Parish officials.

Preparations

As of 10:00 a.m., Hurricane Barry has sustained winds of 75 miles per hour. This classification as a Category 1 Hurricane just happened within the last hour.

While rainfall has not been significant thus far, Parish administration reminds residents to remain hunkered down and on high alert.

“Barry will make landfall soon.  Now is not the time to go out on the road. Please hunker down and shelter in place at home,” officials said.

“Excessive rainfall and flash flooding remain the primary threat as well as strong, gusty winds. Please secure all garbage cans and anything that could possibly become a projectile such as trampolines, etc. Please also continue to monitor the drains and catch basins near your homes and assist with unclogging during breaks in the rainfall.”

Residents are also asked to move cars to higher ground if in low-lying areas and stay informed with St. John the Baptist Parish alerts. To register for alerts, visit sjbparish.com and click “Stay Connected” or message the SJBP Facebook page with a name, address and phone number.

Power Outages

Entergy is working to make repairs and restore power to residents who experienced an outage yesterday evening.

According to St. John Parish administration, “Entergy stated that they are working as quickly as possible and are experiencing slower response times due widespread power outages and strong winds.”

Road Closures

St. John Parish government hasn’t reported any road closures. However, Peavine Road in LaPlace has high water from the lake due to yesterday’s easterly winds.

The following roads have been reported closed in St. Charles Parish: East and West Harding and Ninth Street in New Sarpy.

A distance of approximately 120 feet of the road is coned off due down power lines on Eastbound LA 18 (River Road), between Champagne Lane and Anna Street, just past ADM in Ama.