Widespread power outages in St. Mary after Delta clears out
A third of St. Mary Parish's Cleco customers were without power Saturday morning after Hurricane Delta swept ashore in Cameron Parish on Friday night.
The Poweroutages.us website reported 6,083 of Cleco's 18,981 customers were without power at 10 a.m. The utility reported that 125,000 of its customer homes and businesses were without power across the state at 6 a.m.
The utility said that it has added to its own workforce with more than 2,100 people as efforts to restore power continue.
People are being urged to use caution with electrical generators. Keep them at least 20 feet away from the house, away from doors and vents and out of enclosed spaces such as garages. Carbon monoxide from generators has been one of the most lethal aspects of recent hurricane.
While Delta landed as a Category 2 hurricane far west of St. Mary, near the community of Creole, the effects of the storm were felt across the coast.
The Advocate reported that 90,000 customers were without power in East Baton Rouge Parish on Saturday morning. The paper said gusts of 55 mph were reported in Gonzales.
Amateur radio operators on a Lafayette-based SkyWarn network reported winds of over 90 mph as far east as Acadia Parish.
In St. Mary, the impact other than power outages came from storm surge, especially in the northwest portion of the parish near the coast.
The St. Mary Parish Office described damage in the parish as "minimal," but road closures were reported.
From the Sheriff's Office:
--La. 83, clear and passable.
--La. 319, level is dropping, some trees down on the roadway.
(CLECO crews are en route to assist with removing trees.)
--La. 317, currently water on the roadway past the hump
.
--LA 319 to Cypremort Point and La. 317 to Burns Point are closed at this time.
There were no immediate reports of storm-related injuries.
A storm surge of 7-11 feet was predicted for St. Mary Parish.
The Atchafalaya River at Morgan City, which at one time was forecast to reach 7.5 feet Friday night, made it only to 6.11 feet at 11 p.m., according to the National Weather Service. The minor flood stage is 6 feet.
By 10 a.m. Saturday, the river was back down to 4.25 feet.
Lake Palourde reached 4.25 feet Friday night and was at 4.12 feet at 10 a.m. Saturday.
The weather forecast for Saturday is for a high near 80 degrees under mostly sunny skies. Highs in the mid-80s and sunny weather is in the forecast through Tuesday.