Zeta storm surge warning for area downgraded to coastal flood advisory

While St. Mary and Lower St. Martin parishes still are under a tropical storm watch, a storm surge warning has been cancelled and replaced with a coastal flood advisory as Tropical Storm Zeta heads towards the southeast Louisiana coast.
The change was made because Zeta’s track should remain far enough east of the area to alleviate any major storm surge, while the cold front headed for southwest Louisiana also played a role, too, said Andy Patrick, meteorologist-in-charge at the National Weather Service’s Lake Charles office.
However, they do expect tides reaching 1-2 feet above ground.
With the updated predictions, the St. Mary Parish Levee District will monitor conditions but not order gates at the Franklin, Hanson or Yellow Bayou canals closed.
“Most of those gates can be closed last minute, if necessary,” Levee District Operations Manager Mike Brocato said. “Otherwise, it’s better just to let the rainfall leave by gravity instead of having to pump it.”
While public and parochial schools have cancelled classes Wednesday, no evacuations were deemed necessary by St. Mary Parish President David Hanagriff.
With Zeta approaching Louisiana, a tropical storm watch is in effect from Intracoastal City to Morgan City.
“There is a chance they may upgrade it to a warning, or they may drop it,” Patrick said. “It’s really going to be a close call with the wind. We think if we do get tropical storm force winds, they’ll probably be closer to St. Mary and Lower St. Martin Parish as opposed to Vermilion Parish and maybe even Iberia Parish. … We don’t really expect significant tropical storm wind impact, but we still might get some gusts closer to 40 and maybe even 50 mph.”
St. Mary Parish could receive northeast winds ranging from 30-40 mph with gusts reaching 50 mph. These can begin anywhere from 9 a.m. to noon and end from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m., the National Weather Service said.
In Lower St. Martin, northeast winds from 25 mph to 35 mph with gusts reaching 45 mph are expected. These are expected to begin around 10 a.m. to noon and end between 4 p.m. and 7 p.m.
“That doesn’t mean it’s going to happen all the time, and in fact, it’s probably likely it’s just going to be a brief duration, but these are going to be the potential wind speeds we think that could occur once Zeta begins to move closer to land,” Patrick said of the wind projections.
Locally, the National Weather Services has downgraded the amount of rain expected in St. Mary and Lower St. Martin parishes from 2-4 inches to 1-2 inches.
As of the 4 p.m. update, Zeta had entered the southern Gulf of Mexico where it is expected to strengthen into a hurricane. Its winds remained at 65 mph.
It is expected to begin its north movement Tuesday night and make its northeast turn in the northern Gulf of Mexico Wednesday.
It is projected to make landfall as a Category 1 hurricane in southeast Louisiana Wednesday night.
“But really don’t be surprised if it’s closer to a high end tropical storm when it makes landfall Wednesday evening,” Patrick said.