River crests near 8 feet in Morgan City

Officials in the area say they’ve taken all necessary precautions to protect property from flooding as the Atchafalaya River crested Tuesday in Morgan City.

The river crested at about 7.8 feet Tuesday morning and was expected to gradually start dropping over the next few days, said meteorologist Jared Rackley of the National Weather Service’s Lake Charles Office.

The National Weather Service website showed the river was supposed to reach 8 feet Wednesday, but Rackley said the river appeared to have already crested.

St. Martin Parish President Chester Cedars declared a state of emergency Monday due to the threat of flooding, particularly the Stephensville-Belle River area in lower St. Martin Parish.

Officials in St. Martin Parish made about 6,000 sandbags with an automatic bagging machine and transported them by truck to Stephensville Park on La. 70. Those sandbags were distributed to residents in lower St. Martin, and then officials brought the bagging machine to Stephensville at the start of this week to provide more sandbags, Cedars said.

In addition to providing sandbags, St. Martin leaders were prepared to pump water immediately out of certain areas if issues arise with drains or sewer systems, he said.

Cedars, who just took office in 2018, praised other officials for their help preparing for the high water. Work crews from St. Martin Parish will continue to stay in the area “until the flooding danger diminishes,” Cedars said.

In St. Mary Parish, officials also provided sand and bags for residents to use in the Amelia area. That sandbag location was under the U.S. 90 bridge in Amelia.

The St. Mary Levee District has also been placing sandbags in some low-lying areas in Amelia to help prevent flooding, said Duval Arthur, director of St. Mary Parish’s Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness.

Several areas in Amelia had Hesco baskets filled with sand during previous floods, but someone removed those baskets, Arthur said. So officials were trying to make sure those areas were protected, he said.

Overall, St. Mary Parish officials said the parish has fared well during the high water.

“We feel very good about what we’ve seen so far,” Arthur said Tuesday.

Levee district leaders decided not to install a temporary flood protection structure on Bayou Chene as the river crest was never projected to be above 10 feet, which was the level projected during past closures.

The river rise also caused Morgan City and Berwick officials to close multiple floodgates.

In Morgan City, officials closed floodgates at Freret Street, Railroad Avenue, Eco Serve, two gates at Brashear Avenue and one at Shell Oil dock. Officials were monitoring gates at P.M.I. and Belanger Street that were near the closure threshold.

In Berwick, officials have closed floodgates at First, Gus, Canton, Pacific and Mound streets.

There’s still uncertainty as to whether the Atchafalaya River could crest again later this spring, but officials say another crest is a possibility.