Officials gather online to make hurricane plans

As a National Weather Service meteorologist in Lake Charles, Roger Erickson observes and predicts the weather. In 2020, Erickson lived it.

Erickson spoke about his personal and professional experiences Tuesday at a St. Mary Parish-based Zoom meeting at which federal, state and local officials talked about preparations for the 2021 hurricane season.

The season is officially considered to start June 1, although Erickson said the National Weather Service is considering a move to May 15. Colorado State weather-watchers are predicting an active season this year, with 17 named storms and eight hurricanes.

That would still be short of 2020’s record-setting tropical activity. Eight named storms came ashore in Louisiana, including Laura and Delta, which blew inland in Cameron Parish 43 days apart.

As Laura headed for an Aug. 27 landfall, the National Weather Service office in Lake Charles was evacuated. The NWS meteorologists continued their work from the Calcasieu Emergency Operations Center, where they monitored storm surge and radar imagery. Windows there huffed and puffed as though they were going to pop, Erickson said.

“The radar information was good,” Erickson said, “until the radar was destroyed.”

Gusts of 140 mph blew the radar’s dome apart. The weather observers filled in with imagery from Houston and Slidell. The Lake Charles radar was offline until January.

Laura also blew the roof off Erickson’s home, and repairs still aren’t complete.

“I haven’t been paid by my insurance company,” Erickson said. “I’m one of hundreds if not thousands of people having trouble with their insurance companies.”

Across the region, officials with preparedness responsibilities are checking inventories and making plans as they hope for a quieter tropical season.

Among the items at Tuesday’s meeting:

Keeping watch
The National Weather Service’s experimental storm surge prediction graphic will be available again this year, Erickson said.

Wind speeds during storms will also be given for altitudes of 30 meters and 50 meters. The information is directed at ships and offshore oil platforms in the Gulf but will also be useful for people on land, Erickson said.

Even if this year’s storms and hurricanes outnumber the alphabetical names set aside for them, there will be no more Greek letters. If a hurricane develops after Wanda, its name will be Adria, not Alpha.

Infrastructure
The Bayou Teche Flood Control Structure, designed to prevent storm surge from flowing up the Charenton Canal into the Bayou Teche, is operational, St. Mary Levee District Executive Director Tim Matte said.

The $11 million project was undertaken to prevent flooding in the area from Franklin to Verdunville.
The Franklin Canal, Hanson Canal and Yellow Bayou flood gates are ready, Matte said.

Design work is progressing on the Lakeside closure in the Morgan City levee improvement program, Matte said, although the funding source hasn’t been identified.
The newly consolidated Gravity Drainage District 2A is making progress in a new pump station near Lake End Park, he said.

Cellphone service
Tim Osborn of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration asked about the availability of emergency cellphone service through mobile equipment if a storm knocks out cell towers. In past hurricanes, the lack of cell service slowed relief workers as they tried to find their way around, Osborn said.

The Governor’s Office of Homeland Security will check with service providers to see if the equipment is available, said Lee John, GOHSEP’s regional coordinator.

Not just any
port in a storm
Coast Guard Lt. Hayley Gipson said mariners shouldn’t use local waterways to shelter during hurricanes because of the storm surge threat, shoaling and currents.

If vessels are forced to take shelter here, Gipson said, they should get in touch with the Coast Guard and be ready with information about the vessel’s location and cargo, whether it will be manned as it shelters and any plans for responding if something goes wrong.

She urged mariners to pay attention to the Marine Safety Information Bulletins issued by the Coast Guard.

Riding high
St. Mary Sheriff Blaise Smith said that during Hurricane Barry in 2019, the National Guard and the Sheriff’s Office rescued people in the Louisa area from high water. National Guard vehicles were used, but some of the troops were from out of the area and didn’t know their way around here, the sheriff said.

Now his office has secured a high-water vehicle and an airboat that can be used for future rescues.

Shelters
COVID-19 continues to complicate plans to set up shelters for those fleeing hurricanes.
Last year, state officials decided against large congregant sites and instead put evacuees up in hotels and motels.
St. Mary Homeland Security Director David Naquin said he’s heard nothing definite about shelter plans. But COVID “is probably going to be an issue this year,” Naquin said.

Safety first
Among 31 hurricane-related deaths last year, 14 resulted from carbon monoxide poisoning, Erickson said.

The problem is generators that are operated in closed spaces such as garages or outdoors near vents or open windows.
Three people died as a result of high winds, Erickson said. Seven more died from heat-related causes and seven more from accidents after the storm.

Get ready
You can find hurricane preparation tips at https://www.getagameplan.org/