As of Friday, Gavin Phillips described the weather event as a cluster of showers and storms drifting slowly to the west, northwest that was expected to turn into a low-pressure area off the Yucatán Peninsula by late this weekend.

Phillips, a National Weather Service meteorologist, said the storms will drift into the Gulf of Mexico and eventually strike the Florida peninsula Tuesday morning, “depending on what model you are looking at.”

Heavy rains could impact much of Florida, the Carolinas and Georgia, Phillips said.

This week’s weather worries remind us again that Hurricane Season is here, and we all need to be prepared.

St. John the Baptist Parish Government got the word out early, alerting local residents to the lastest threat Thursday evening.

The Office of Emergency Preparedness is in contact with the Weather Service and receiving updates regularly and all Department heads are meeting and making preparations.

Parish officials are asking residents to finalize game plans for their homes and businesses in the event a storm threatens the area.

Persistent local rainfall is expected through Sunday, with amounts as high as 4 inches possible.

Parish officials said Public Works and Utilities crews are making preparations to water and wastewater systems, adding all essential staff are on call this weekend.

Residents can assist with preparations by gathering loose debris and tree branches from yards and helping clean culverts and catch basins near homes and businesses.

Those interested are asked to sign up to receive emergency notifications to a home phone, cell phone, email or SMS text messaging device by visiting sjbparish.com and clicking on “Stay Connected.”