Emergency Preparedness officials, law enforcement agencies and parish governments throughout the River Parishes were placed on alert Tuesday and all eyes were watching the progress of Tropical Storm Isidore in the Gulf of Mexico. All of the officials were busy making preparations in case the storm comes ashore in southeastern Louisiana.

The Department of Emergency Preparedness in St. Charles Parish began meeting Friday and by Tuesday the employees were on full alert. Sandbagging was underway in the parish in anticipation of the coming storm.

As of Tuesday morning, no emergency shelters had been set up for St. Charles Parish residents but officials said shelters were being considered.

“From the public standpoint, we have not experienced hurricane winds in quite some time,” Tab Troxler, St. Charles Emergency Preparedness director, said. “If the scenario holds true, we could be seeing strong winds with this storm. The storm is expected to move into and out of the area very quickly, but could also spawn a number of tornados.”

The St. John the Baptist Parish Sheriff’s Office was placed on alert Thursday and all vacations were put on hold unless approved by the sheriff. Deputies were armed with raincoats and flashlights and emergency response vehicles were fueled up Monday.

On Tuesday, St. James Parish officials met with Gerald Falgoust, director of Emergency Preparedness, and he said parish officials were looking at setting up emergency shelters. Sandbags were lined up Tuesday at various locations around the parish.