Wind and water hit Stephensville

Stephensville resident Michele Grizzaffi was awakened Thursday and endured a frightening situation she had never experienced before.
Grizzaffi said that at 6:25 a.m., she was awakened “with some whistling noises.”
Grizzaffi got her kids out of their bedrooms in their mobile home in Doiron’s Trailer Park, and they all laid in the hallway.
“Then we heard something hit, and I didn’t know if something hit the trailer or what was happening,” she said.
They also heard what she said sounded like hail the size of golf balls falling and sounded like it would break windows. Meanwhile, the trailer was shaking.
When the weather cleared, the Grizzaffis found their neighbor’s trampoline on their deck and partially in their pool.
Grizzaffi said the frightening experience lasted almost 10 minutes.
“I’m still kind of freaked out about it because I’ve never been in that situation before,” she said later in the day.
Her experience was part of weather that the Lower St. Martin Parish area experienced Thursday as well as previous days with rain.
Thursday, the St. Martin Parish Government issued a state of emergency for Bayou Estates and Four Mile Bayou areas were closed to nonresidential traffic due to the heavy rains.
More storms, possibly severe, were in Friday’s National Weather Service forecast for the region. A flash flood warning is in effect, and more rain is expected Saturday.
Edna and Adell streets as well as Landry Road were closed Wednesday due to the high water, while a no-wake zone also was instituted for the Belle River and Stephensville area.
Mark Price, who lives on La. 70, said while the water was a ways from his home, it was rising and he didn’t want to take any risks with rain forecast for Friday and Saturday.
He and Deon Kester, who owns a camp in Bayou Estates, were at the Stephensville Park where they had gathered sandbags for their property.
“I just need to close off one area,” Price said.
He said the aftermath of this rain didn’t shock him, and he’s prepared because he has prepared annually with rain, high water and hurricanes.
“Just can’t keep these sandbags year after year,” Price said. “If you need 30 or 40 sandbags, you got to come get them every year.”
Gov. John Bel Edwards has issued a state of emergency due to the ongoing severe weather impacting Louisiana this week.