Bad storm, close call

Severe storms swept across St. Mary Parish Wednesday, but much of the area escaped major damage from those storms.

The Morgan City area got just under 4 inches of rain during Wednesday’s storms, National Weather Service meteorologist Seth Warphen said. West St. Mary got closer to 10 inches of rain.

There were also reports of hail of various sizes near Morgan City. Hail reported was around quarter-sized on average, he said.

Considering how severe and widespread the weather was, there wasn’t much damage and/or vehicle crashes, St. Mary Parish Sheriff’s Office Spokeswoman Detective Lt. Traci Landry said.

“People were paying attention. They were staying off the roads, and they were driving according to road conditions,” Landry said. “We thank them for that.”
All of the wind damage associated with the storms in the area appeared to be from straight-line winds and not tornadic activity.

The worst part of the storms occurred from around noon to 2 p.m. in St. Mary Parish. Sustained winds reached 32 mph about noon and gusted to 40 mph at Harry P. Williams Memorial Airport near Patterson.

Sheriff’s office deputies responded to several weather-related calls from areas across the parish yesterday including downed trees and power lines, street flooding and one structure fire that was possibly caused by a nearby power line or transformer. No death or injuries were reported in any of the incidents, Landry said.

Around noon, deputies responded to a call of a tree that had fallen across La. 182 between Centerville and Garden City. Deputies cleared the tree using chainsaws and reopened the highway about 2 p.m.

A sheriff’s deputy re-ported hail Wednesday afternoon in the Patter-son area on U.S. 90 near the American Legion hall.

Power lines also fell across Southwest Boulevard in Bayou Vista between Canal Road and La. 182. Cleco workers repaired the downed lines, Landry said.
Deputies responded to street flooding in Bayou Vista in the early afternoon and overnight in areas that typically flood during heavy rain, Landry said. But water on the streets subsided as soon as the rain slacked off.

All of the roads that flooded in Bayou Vista had been reopened by Thursday morning.

Morgan City saw some storm damage, including a tree that fell on a Wise Street home.

As of 5:15 p.m. Wednesday, Cleco reported 466 customers were without power in St. Mary Parish.

The National Weather Service forecast shows the weather will be mostly clear Thursday night and sunny Friday in Morgan City with a high of 75 degrees.