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The National Weather Service in Lake Charles has issued a

* Flood Warning for
the Atchafalaya River At Morgan City.
* From Saturday evening to late Sunday night.
* At 11:00 AM CDT Friday the stage was 5.6 feet.
* Flood stage is 6.0 feet.
* Minor flooding is forecast.
* Forecast...The river will oscillate around flood stage with a
maximum value of 6.0 feet tomorrow evening.
* Impact...At 6.0 feet, Flood stage. The city dock will be under
water. Water will cover the lower end of Belleview Front Street in
Berwick. Vessel traffic will be affected by stronger river current
and vessel traffic safety rules will be strictly enforced by the
U.S. Coast Guard.

Did the newly consolidated Drainage District No. 2A wait too long to close the Walnut Canal barge gate and protect Lakeside Subdivision from the effects of Tuesday’s 10-inch downpour?
There has already been some debate on that topic, and you can expect more.
The question was raised at Wednesday’s St. Mary Parish Council meeting by Morgan City Mayor Lee Dragna. Actually, Dragna started to raise it before his addition to the agenda was blocked by Councilman Craig Mathews, who said the matter should be left to the drainage district.
The gate had been closed earlier Wednesday as Lake Palourde’s level rose.
As he left the courthouse, Dragna said the gate should have been closed earlier. He handed me an engineering report to support his claim. And he talked about using his power as mayor to keep the gate closed, even to the point of tossing someone in jail.
Dragna served for years as chairman of the old Drainage District No. 2 board before the district was merged with the one serving Amelia. So you have to believe he has some knowledge about the subject.
The judgment depends largely on measures of the Lake Palourde level. My story on the Parish Council meeting may have added more confusion than clarity to that point. The confusion comes from the fact that the lake’s level is measured in at least two different ways.
The report offered by Dragna was written in 2015 by the T. Baker Smith Engineering firm for what was then Gravity Drainage No. 2 in the Morgan City area. The report is called “Walnut Canal Barge Gate Operational Analysis and Future Improvements.”
The report is half an inch thick. But the meaty part suggests that when the lake level reaches 1.25 feet, a staff member should notify the board chairman. When the lake reaches 1.50 feet, the weather should be monitored closely, and consideration should be given to closing the barge at that point based on weather and Atchafalaya River forecasts and on whether the resources will be available.
Closing the gate takes a couple of hours and requires a diver to check a seal.
In any case, the report said, the barge should be closed when the lake hits 1.75 feet.
Now then: If you follow the link in the report to a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers website with a graph of recent lake levels, that graph has the lake level between 3 and 5 feet for the last week or so.
So closing the gate was a slam dunk, right?
Maybe. Maybe not.
The level cited in the Smith report — the one that talks about 1.25-1.75 feet — is adjusted to reflect the North American Vertical Datum of 1988, or NAVD 88.
NAVD 88 “consists of a leveling network on the North American Continent, ranging from Alaska, through Canada, across the United States, affixed to a single origin point on the continent,” according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
In other words, someone wants 1.75 feet to mean the same thing in British Columbia that it means at Lake End Park.
Did I mention this is a federal government thing?
The reading that had the lake at 3-5 feet is on a different scale. It’s the one you’re probably familiar with from National Weather Service readings of levels at Lake Palourde and the Atchafalaya River.
You can make a rough conversion to NAVD 88 by subtracting 2.17 from the National Weather Service readings. Using that method, here’s what the Lake Palourde level did last week:
—The lake was at 1.79 feet (by the NAVD 88 reading) March 19. It stayed close to that level through the weekend and into Monday.
—At 1 a.m. Tuesday, before the 10-inch storm, the lake was at 1.85 feet but dropped a bit to 1.64 feet by 8 a.m. Tuesday.
—At 10 p.m. Tuesday, the rain had pushed the lake to 2.62 feet.
—By 5 a.m. Wednesday, the day the gate was closed, the lake was at 2.48 feet.
—At 6 a.m. Friday, the level was at 2.68 feet.
So there it is. The lake level was at a level that might have justified closing the gate for days before the storm, if the Smith reports recommendations are to be followed. But the level was below the close-the-gate level when the rain started falling.
You pays your money, and you makes your choice.

More weather
Mother Nature wasn’t through with the South after Tuesday’s deluge.
Tornadoes touched down in Mississippi, Georgia and Alabama overnight. The north Alabama tornado that touched down in Calhoun County is being blamed for five deaths.
It turns out that at least one tornado was associated with Tuesday’s storm. The National Weather Service confirmed that an EF-1 tornado touched down in Washington in northern St. Landry Parish.
There were no reports of injuries, but power was knocked out in a large area, and media accounts say the wind ripped the roof from a Washington home.
EF-1 tornadoes have winds of 73-112 mph.
Bill Decker is managing editor of The Daily Review.

July 10,1947 — March 25, 2021
Loving wife, mother, grandmother, great-grandmother and sister.
Sandra Pace Gros was called to her heavenly home on March 25, 2021 at Thibodaux Regional Medical Center after living 73 wonderful, beautiful love-filled years. An avid writer and reader, Sandra enjoyed spending time among nature and making lasting memories with her family. She was retired from the St. Martin Parish School Board, where she was the secretary at Stephensville Elementary.
Sandra was born in Baton Rouge and spent all of her adult life in 4 Mile Bayou. Sandra leaves to cherish her memory, three children, son, Leroy and his wife, Wanda Rivere Gros, of 4 Mile Bayou, daughter, Gina Gros Verrett and husband Melvin Verrett Jr. of Lafayette, and son, Ben Gros and wife Tracey Fabre Gros of 4 Mile Bayou. Sandra is also survived by one sister, Eunice Pace Ware; and one brother, Danny Pace and wife Debbie Long; one sister-in-law, Melda Pace; nine grandchildren, Mark and Desiree Venturella Gros of 4 Mile Bayou, Krystal Henry Verret and Jordan Verret of Broussard, Lee Gros and Brooke Rankin of Bayou Vista, Ernie Henry Jr. of New Orleans, Wendy Gros and Chad Duran of 4 Mile Bayou, Dustin Verrett of Lafayette, Gracie Gros and Chase Falcon of Pierre Part, Brandon Verrett and Brittney Bryant of Denham Springs and Brandy Verrett of Denham Springs; 13 great-grandchildren, Lainey Gros, Carson Gros, Kai Verret, Rylee Belle Verret, Brantlee Roy Gros, Kohen Curtis Mayon, CJ and Dawson Duran, Ashton Verrett, Cain Terry and Alex Verrett, Connor Rankin and Colston Ross; and numerous nieces, nephews, family and friends.
Sandra has been reunited in heaven with her loving and devoted husband, Roy Pierre Gros of 51 years; her parents, T.B. and Lucy Cook Pace; three brothers, Elmer Ray Pace, Larry Q. and wife Anna Vides Pace, and Ted Pace; one brother-in-law, John Ware.
Pallbearers will be Mark Gros, Lee Gros, Dustin Verrett, Ernie Henry Jr., Jordan Verret, Chad Duran and Chase Falcon.
Visitation will be held on Saturday, March 27, 2021 at Hargrave Funeral Home from 9 a.m. until time of Services, which will be held at noon. Burial will follow in the Morgan City Cemetery.

Happy birthday Sunday to Monica Slack from family, friends and Ira … Happy birthday Sunday to Chris Kenner III, with lots of love, Uncle Earl and Aunt Charlene.