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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.

Morgan City’s three mayor candidates have similar visions for what the city needs the next four years. So they again tried to differentiate themselves based on their experience at Monday’s final St. Mary Chamber forum of this election cycle.
The common threads Monday at Morgan City Municipal Auditorium were a belief that the city government has a lean budget that nevertheless should be examined for cost-cutting opportunities; a need for economic diversification; and a need for more housing and business investment.
The most obvious policy difference was between Don Hicks on one hand and Lee Dragna and Kevin Voisin on the other when it comes to housing. Dragna and Voisin see a need for new residential construction, with a focus on the Hellenic property. Hicks said 14% of the city’s housing units are unoccupied and that the emphasis should be on rehabilitating the existing housing stock.
Voisin served 20 years as a Parish Council member, including three as council chairman and eight years as a finance committee chair. Hicks served in the nuclear Navy and is retired after working in Entergy’s commercial nuclear power program for 35 years. Dragna pointed to his rapidly growing LAD Services Inc. and his service as chairman of Gravity Drainage District No. 2 and as a member of the Port of Morgan City board.
Voisin is a small business owner in addition to his service on the Parish Council.
He sees the biggest challenges in the next four years as businesses leaving the parish, the COVID-19 pandemic and keeping the Port of Morgan City waterways open.
The departure of businesses “is why it is so important to work with the businesses that are here,” Voisin said.
It’s important to look for opportunities to privatize and consolidate services in an already lean city budget, Voisin said.
He returned often to a theme of bringing different groups together to achieve improvements, working with Morgan City Main Street for downtown improvements, with the Louisiana Energy & Power Authority, and with the City Council on controlling the cost of city employee health insurance.
He sees the Brownell Carillon as a tourism asset and wants to find ways to work with the port board to make Morgan City an attractive stop for yachts and pleasure craft passing through on local waterways.
A major theme for Hicks is emphasizing the advantages he says Morgan City already has: a major highway, the port and a nearby airport. He said it’s important to promote dredging to keep commercial waterways open.
“We have all the tools to make a phenomenal success,” Hicks said.
He emphasized what he said is a need to rehabilitate existing homes and businesses and to promote local tourism.
The biggest challenge he sees in the next four years is the loss of business and industry.
“Tracking business and industry is essential to our growth,” Hicks said.
His short-term goals are promoting tourism and promoting a clean city effort.
“We want to have a city that visitors will be impressed with and we can be proud of,” Hicks said.
He said his work with Entergy made him familiar with supervising a large work force as well as with human resources and purchasing.
Dragna emphasized his experience as the owner of a business that has grown beyond barge-building to employ 200 workers.
As a business owner, he has learned to perform the diversification that Morgan City’s economy needs, he said.
As a leader of the drainage district, he said, he cut wasteful spending and helped the district do its portion of the multimillion-dollar levee improvement project and improve the pump stations that protect Morgan City from flooding. He was in contact with Hellenic during the levee project, he said.
And Dragna said he helped the port board obtain millions in funding.
“There are plenty of good ideas,” Dragna said. “And there’s lots of funding out there.”
The key to increasing the city’s tax base is new housing, he said.
Dragna was the last of the three candidates to make his closing statement, and he used the time to strike at his opponents’ experience.
In a reference to Voisin, who he said deals with only a single employee, Dragna said the mayor’s post should be more than a “bucket list job.”
And Hicks has been retired for a few years. “In five or 10 years in business you lose all the contacts you had, if you had any,” Dragna said.

BARBECUE MOVED
New Zorah Baptist Church, 604 Julia St., Morgan City, holding a Barbecue Dinner Sale 11 a.m. until, Nov. 7 (moved from Oct. 31 due to possible bad weather). Menu: barbecued chicken, baked beans, cheese spaghetti, potato salad, bread and drink. Cost: $10. Pre-orders contact Barry Walker, 985-222-9328 or Timothy Mat-thews, 985-519-1007.

Morgan City police arrested three women Friday on drug charges, Chief James F. Blair reported.

—Shannon Sylvester, 33, Houma, was arrested at 2:46 p.m. Friday on warrants for possession of marijuana, possession of drug paraphernalia, possession of Alprazolam, illegal use of a controlled dangerous substance in the presence of a person under 17 and driver must be licensed.

Sylvester was arrested in Terrebonne Parish for warrants from Morgan City Police Department and was transported to Morgan City Police Department for booking. The warrants stemmed from a traffic stop Oct. 21.

—Brittany Morgan, 29, St. Claire Street, Morgan City, was arrested at 8:24 p.m. Friday on a charge of possession of synthetic marijuana (first offense).

Morgan was arrested after officers responded to a domestic disturbance during the investigation officers located a small plastic bag that contained suspected synthetic marijuana.

Morgan admitted that the suspected marijuana was hers. Morgan was placed under arrest and transported to the Morgan City Police Department for booking.

—Destaine Daigle, 30, Duke Street, Morgan City, was arrested at 9:19 p.m. Friday on charges of possession of methamphetamine and possession of drug paraphernalia.
Officers stopped a vehicle for a traffic violation. Officers were able to obtain consent to search the vehicle and located suspected methamphetamine and drug paraphernalia.
Daigle, who was the passenger in the car, admitted that the drugs were hers. Daigle was placed under arrest and transported to the Morgan City Police Department for booking.

Blair also reported these arrests:

—Ashley Clark, 35, Patterson, was arrested at 10:42 a.m. Friday on warrants for failure to return a leased movable and for failure to appear in the City Court of Morgan City in connection with charges of theft and probation violation.

Officers located Clark and placed her under arrest on warrants held by Morgan City Police Department for her arrest. Clark was taken to the Morgan City Police Department for booking.

—Gage Landry, 26, La. 182, Morgan City, was arrested at 10:55 a.m. Friday on warrants for theft under $1,000 and failure to appear in City Court for simple criminal damage to property.

Officers made contact with Landry and learned of warrants held for his arrest by Morgan City Police Department. The theft warrant stemmed from an investigation Aug. 24. Landry was placed under arrest and transported to the Morgan City Police Department for booking.

—Garrett Daigle, 35, Patton Street, Morgan City, was arrested at 12:33 a.m. Saturday on charges of disturbing the peace by fighting.

Officers were called to a Patton Street address due to a fight that occurred. Officer learned that a fight occurred between Daigle and another subject.
After learning what took place, police arrested Daigle and transported him to the Morgan City Police Department for booking. The other subject had to be treated for minor injuries. The investigation is still ongoing.
—Curran Bias, 38, Florence Street, Morgan City, was arrested at 10:37 a.m. Sunday on charges of criminal tres-passing and disturbing the peace.

Officers were called to a residence after a neighbor saw a subject in the yard. The neighbor yelled at the subject at which time the subject began to use profane language toward the neighbor.

Officers learned of the description of the subject and located him in the area. Bias was placed under arrest and transported to the Morgan City Police Department for booking.
—Eugene LeBlanc, 25, Elaine Street, Morgan City, was arrested at 11:48 a.m. Sunday on City Court warrants for failure to pay fine and contempt of court.

Officers came into contact with LeBlanc and learned of warrants for his arrest. LeBlanc was placed under arrest and transported to the Morgan City Police Department for booking.
—Randy Clark, 34, 11th Street, Morgan City, was arrested at 12:31 a.m. Sunday on a charge of resisting an officer and on warrants for failure to appear in connection with charges of criminal trespassing, theft and contempt of court.

Officer saw Clark near Brashear Avenue and attempted to speak with him about warrants for his arrest. Officer approached Clark and told him about the warrants at which time he ran from officers who were able to arrest him after a short chase.
Clark was transported to the Morgan City Police Department for booking.
—Alvin Brown, 54, Shertz, Texas, was arrested 9:16 p.m. on a charge of disturbing the peace-intoxicated.

Officers responded to a complaint of an intoxicated subject on La.182. Officers were able to locate Brown, who fit the description of the subject near the area.
Brown appeared to be intoxicated as officers spoke with him and had to hold himself up on a pole. Brown was placed under arrest and taken to the Morgan City Police Department for booking.

St. Mary Parish Sheriff Blaise Smith reported these arrests:

—Juvenile male, 15, Baldwin, was arrested at 3:18 p.m. Thursday on a charge of disturbing the peace by fighting. The boy was released into the custody of a guardian pending juvenile court proceedings.

--Juvenile male, 15, Jeanerette, was arrested at 3:18 p.m. Thursday on a charge of disturbing the peace by fighting. The boy was released into the custody of a guardian pending juvenile court proceedings.

—Martin Anthony Scelfo, 28, La. 87, Franklin, was arrested at 10:58 a.m. Friday on charges of resisting officer or arrest, domestic abuse battery and unauthorized use of a motor vehicle.

Scelfo was also arrested on a Chitimacha Tribal Police Department warrant for trespassing (four counts) and a St. Martin Sheriff’s Office warrant for possession of drug paraphernalia, violation of a uniform CDS law and possession of a Schedule II drug.

No bail has been set and Scelfo is being held for other agencies.

—Jose Manuel Bibian Sr., 33, Bayou Black Road, Gibson, was arrested at 8:38 p.m. Saturday on charges of domestic abuse child endangerment law and resisting arrest or officer. No bail has been set.

—Timothy John Ohmer, 53, Lake Palourde Road, Amelia, was arrested at 6:20 p.m. Saturday on a charge of aggravated battery. No bail has been set.

—Arthur Deshawn Jack, 25, Mary Garrett Road, Baldwin, was arrested at 10:37 p.m. Saturday on a charge of possession of a firearm-felon. No bail has been set.

—Brett James Gary Frederick, 29, La. 319, Cypremort Point, was arrested at 3:40 p.m. Sunday on a charge of domestic abuse child endangerment law and on a warrant for failure to appear on the charges of minor in possession of alcohol and resisting an officer. Frederick was released on a $5,500 bond.