Due to the effects of Tropical Storm Francine, St. Mary Parish President Sam Jones has declared a voluntary evacuation for all areas south of La. 83, south of Glencoe (which includes the Port of West St. Mary, all of Cypremort Point and Louisa), as well as La. 317 south of the levee near Luke's Landing Road.
The declaration is effective as of 5 p.m. Tuesday.
The White House has approved an emergency declaration for Louisiana related to Hurricane Francine, the Governor's Office announced Tuesday night.
"This federal assistance will be pivotal to save lives and property. As Hurricane Francine approaches Louisiana," Gov. Jeff Landry said in a press release. "I appreciate President Biden quickly approving this request."
Landry sent a letter to the president Tuesday asking for the declaration, effective Monday. The impact of torrential rainfall, damaging winds, and hurricane-spawn tornadoes will pose a serious threat to the lives and property of the people of Louisiana, the Governor's Office said.
“After declaring a State of Emergency, we have now determined that this storm is of such severity that an effective response is beyond the capabilities of the state and local governments. This federal assistance is needed to save lives and property, and I look forward to President Biden quickly approving this request,” Landry said in a press release.
On a rainy Thursday night, the Berwick Panthers and Morgan City Tigers kicked off their seasons, and Berwick came away with a 30-12 win.
The game was played on a Thursday night instead of the usual Friday due to a shortage of referees. Similar to the Jamboree, rain was constant throughout the game.
On the opening kickoff the rain made its presence felt. Evan Crappell’s kick was fumbled by the Tigers and then recovered by the Panthers in Morgan City territory. The Panthers established the run early with their one-two punch of Cole Morris and Maddox Sampey.
Morris, who missed last week’s Jamboree, was back in the lineup for the season opener and made his presence felt early. After an errant snap on first down, Morris regained the yardage quickly with a 10-yard run. Sampey and Morris continued to swap carries until a holding penalty was called on the Panthers in the red zone. The holding call gave Berwick a third and 11.
Tasked with the long yardage to the sticks, coach Mike Walker dialed up a slant route to fullback Jason Matthews, who caught the ball and was tackled one yard short of the end zone. Two plays later, Morris punches the ball in for six. The two-point conversion was no good, giving the Panthers an early 6-0 lead.
Morgan City responded to the Morris touchdown with a statement. The first play from scrimmage was a 10-yard carry by junior running back Micah Wilkerson. The Tigers also seemed to take some notes from the NFL’s Philadelphia Eagles, running a play similar to the infamous “Tush Push,” a play similar to the traditional quarterback sneak, but three blockers line up behind the quarterback on a fourth and 1.
Despite the heavy rain, Morgan City trusted senior quarterback Thomas Mancuso to throw the ball, a risk that paid off. On third-and-long, a running Mancuso threw a 35-yard touchdown to a wide-open Lamarion Griffin. The two-point conversion failed, making it all even at 6.
It didn’t take the Panthers long to respond. Crappell, following a nice return from Carter Whipple, ran the ball 45-yards to the end zone for another Panthers touchdown, making it 12-6 after a failed two-point conversion.
This is the moment the Panthers seized control of this football game. Mancuso, following the Crappell touchdown run, threw an interception to senior linebacker Nick Wiggins. While no points were scored off this turnover, more Morgan City mistakes occurred, and the Panthers did not hesitate to take advantage of those mistakes.
The Tigers turned the ball over after their punter caught the ball with his knee down, leading to Morris’ second touchdown of the game. On Morgan City’s first drive of the second half, Mancuso fumbled on a third-down play, leading to a recovery by senior Dylan Armond. The recovery led to Morris’ third and final touchdown of the game.
The Tigers were not the only team having issues with the weather. While the Panthers had a lot of success running the ball in this game, they had their fair share of fumbles. Following his first touchdown of the season, Sampey fumbled on the next drive leading to a 50-yard Morgan City scoop-and-score touchdown by sophomore linebacker Muntrell Webb. Following the scoop-and-score, Berwick fumbled again, this time by Morris.
Morgan City would actually fumble a few plays after this, but on the return, Berwick defensive back Reese Leonard also fumbled, leading to a Morgan City recovery deep in Panther territory. The final two drives of the game were more fumbles, one from Berwick and then one from Morgan City.
“I thought we played well, happy with the win,” Walker said after the game. “Lot of things to clean up, but happy to be 1-0.”
Berwick stats
Passing – Crappell 2-2, 32 yards
Rushing – Sampey 14-76 TD, Crappell 7-62 TD, Morris 16-59 3 TD
Receiving – Matthews 2-32
Defense – Pratt 3 TFL, Wiggins 9 TOT tackles 1 TFL 1 INT 1 FR 1 FF, Jones 3 TFL 1 Sack
Next week the Berwick Panthers will face off against the Kaplan Pirates at home. Morgan City will take on Slaughter Charter in their home opener.
A last-minute change in plans deprived Central Catholic of an opener at home, sending the Eagles to White Castle instead of Morgan City’s Tiger Stadium.
But Benjamin Case, Tate Fontenot and Xailen Hebert had no trouble finding the end zone.
Case threw for four touchdowns, two each to Fontenot and Hebert, in Central Catholic’s 27-24 win over White Castle.
Elsewhere, in a Week One muddled by referee shortages and weather, Berwick downed Morgan City High 30-12 in a game moved to Thursday to ensure enough officials to play. (See related story).
Patterson took one on the chin, falling 40-0 to Jeanerette in a Friday game rescheduled for Saturday in New Iberia.
Centerville was a 32-0 winner over Delcambre; Hanson fell 24-6 to St. John; Lafayette High knocked off Franklin 34-14; and West St. Mary scored a 38-0 win over Berchman’s.
This Friday, hurricane permitting, Morgan City High will host Slaughter Community Charter; Berwick will be at home against Kaplan; Patterson will play Comeaux in Lafayette; Centerville plays at West St. Mary; and Franklin will take on M.L. King Charter.
Central Catholic is scheduled to play Catholic New Iberia on Thursday at a site to be determined.
For Central Catholic, Case hit 11 of 17 passes for 272 yards, or 16 yards per attempt.
His four TD passes included a 62-yarder to Fontenot and a 55-yarder to Hebert.
Hebert finished with five receptions for 131 yards. Hebert caught three for 114. Landon Lipari caught two passes for 21 yards, and Dominic Lipari had one for 6 yards.
Fontenot was also the rushing leader for Central Catholic with 84 yards on 18 tries. Case rushed seven times for 30 yards, and Dominic Lipari picked up 4 yards on his single carry.
Ronnie O’Neal Kelley, 81, a resident of Iowa, LA, passed from this life on September 6, 2024, at a local hospice facility after a short and courageous battle with Leukemia.
Mr. Kelley, affectionately known as “Punkin,” will forever be remembered as a loving husband, father, grandfather, and brother. He grew up as a cowboy, from bull riding, rodeoing, herding cattle to living a hard-working farm life. He was an avid hunter, loved the outdoors, watching animals in nature, and his canine companion, Spec. Ronnie loved family gatherings, was a jokester, and found humor in all situations to lighten the mood. Ronnie was a jack of all trades and enjoyed storytelling from life experiences. He was a commercial diver for many years and later retired from the United States Army Corps of Engineers. Ronnie was a Vietnam Veteran who served with honor in the United States Navy.
Ronnie is preceded in death by his parents, Joseph O’Neal and Rosalie Lognion Kelley, and brothers-in-law, Donald Dill and Marcos Joseph Kelley.
He leaves to cherish his memory his loving wife of 52 years, Linda Sottile Kelley; his three children, Peggy Kelley and husband William Baker, Matt Kelley, and Quinn Knight; his six grandchildren, Lacie Kelley, Blake Wren, Amber Baker, Haylie Baker, Olivia Kelley, and Hunter Baker, three great-grandchildren, Bubba, Levi, and Isla Hall, siblings, Ramona Dill McCorquodale and husband Donny, and Bobbie Kelley, niece Kelley Stallion and husband Kevin, and nephews Michael Dill, Mark Dill and wife Heather.
The family would like to express their sincere appreciation to the doctors and staff at St. Patrick’s Hospital and Ochsner’s Hospital on the Old Jefferson Highway, as well as their extended family at Trinity Baptist Church for their love and prayers.
Family and friends will gather on Thursday, September 12, 2024, from 6:00 PM until 8:00 PM in the chapel of Lakeside Funeral Home to celebrate the life of Mr. Kelley. Ronnie will be laid to rest at the Southwest Louisiana Veterans Cemetery at a later date.
Mary Lewis Andrus, 80, a native of Morgan City, LA and a resident of Des Allemands, LA, passed away on Monday, September 2, 2024.
Visitation will be from 10:00 am until 11:00 am on Monday, September 16, 2024 at Des Allemands Mennonite Church. Religious services will be at 11:00 am with burial to follow in Morgan City Cemetery at 1:00 pm
She is survived by her husband, Halley Wayne Andrus; daughters, Maria Cancienne (Calvin), Charlene Morgan (Don); son, Bryant Andrus (Kimberly); grandchildren, Katelyn Fenerty (Jack), Madison Cancienne, Haley Morgan, Donald Morgan III, Bryant Andrus II, Justin Hayes (Sarah) and Victoria Heyl (Dylan); great-grandchildren, Sophie, Autum, Elizabeth, Adam and Austin; brother, John Lewis and sisters, Cheryl Braud (John) and Jackie Weems (Steven).
She was preceded in death by her parents, John “Jack” W. Lewis and Charlene Lewis; father- in-law, Yves Andrus and mother-in-law, Winnie Andrus and sisters-in-law, Fernella Andrus and Audrey Lewis.
Mary devoted many years to Special Olympics as a volunteer, a Bayouland Coordinator and a Regional Training Facilitator. She loved camping with family and friends, traveling, shopping, reading, crocheting, loved her dogs and most of all she cherished spending time with her family.
Falgout Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements.
Rodney Leo Marceaux Sr., 92, resident of Morgan City, died Thursday, Sept. 5, 2024.
He is survived by four grandchildren, three great-grandchildren, two brothers, Horace and Irry, and sister, Reina.
He was preceded in death by his wife, son and parents.
Visitation will be Thursday, 5-8 p.m., and again Friday, from 8 a.m. until services at 10 a.m. at Hargrave Funeral Home. Burial will follow in Morgan City Cemetery.
Hargrave Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements.
From the Morgan City government:
Current projections have Francine making landfall between 5 and 6 PM on Wednesday, September 11, 2024, as a Category 1 hurricane.
Weather conditions are expected to decline in the area with a very high probability of strong winds, which may cause power outages.
In the event of power outages, the power will remain out until the hurricane has passed. Crews will not go out after the winds reach 35 MPH. Power will be restored to the hospital, the Water Plant and the Wastewater Treatment Plant first. After those are restored, all other areas will be assessed for damage, and the easiest repairs will be made first. Please be patient. City Crews will be working diligently to restore your power as quickly and safely as possible.
Once the winds reach 35 MPH, the Police Department, Fire Department, and the Electrical Department WILL NOT respond to calls.
Although no mandatory evacuation order has been issued for St. Mary Parish, we urge residents to prepare to “Shelter-in-Place”. Please remain inside your homes and stay off City streets once weather conditions begin to deteriorate.
City Hall will be closed to the public on Wednesday, September 11, 2024. Thursday hours have not yet been determined.
Please avoid calling City Hall for NON-EMERGENCY work orders at this time and until after the storm has passed.
This storm is expected to be a heavy rain event, with up to 10 inches of rain expected. Sandbags are available to Morgan City residents under the bridge at David Drive. Be prepared to fill your own bags. Flood gates at 9’ sill and below are being closed. Unless storm surge predictions change, all others are expected to remain open throughout this event.
Scheduled garbage pickup is canceled for Wednesday, September 11, 2024, and is scheduled to resume on Thursday, September 12, 2024. Wednesday’s route will be picked up on Saturday, September 14, 2024, the next regularly scheduled pickup day. We ask that all residents bring their garbage cans in from the street and secure them, whether or not they have been emptied. Please do not place any trash at your curb.
No pleasure craft or shrimp boats are allowed at the City Wharf until further notice.
Dorothy Pellissier Glynn, 89, a native of Rayne and resident of Morgan City, died Sunday, Sept. 8, 2024.
She is survived by a daughter, Cynthia Cutrera; three grandchildren; and eight great-grandchildren.
She was preceded in death by her husband, parents and sister.
Visitation will be Saturday from noon until services at 2 p.m. at Holy Cross Catholic Church in Morgan City. Burial will follow in Morgan City Mausoleum.
Hargrave Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements.
Gov. Jeff Landry on Monday urged Louisiana residents, especially those living on the Gulf Coast, to be prepared for a possible hurricane.
The first-term Republican governor issued a statewide emergency declaration on Monday.
“Most likely what we are looking for is heavy rain along with localized flooding of seven to nine inches over a 12-hour period, once the storm makes landfall,” said Jacques Thibodeaux , Director of the Governor’s Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness.
“Those people living along the coast should heed their local officials’ warnings and take the proper precautions necessary for high tides, extreme surges and the strong winds,” Landry said. “Storm shelters are all based on a parish by parish basis. Maintain contact with your local parish, officers of emergency preparedness and they’ll tell you what shelters will be open.”
With 23 parishes already issuing emergency declarations, the governor warned that number could grow as more information becomes available. He also highlighted resources like Getagameplan.org to help people prepare, reminding them not to panic but to take the time to ready their homes and properties.
Landry urged residents to avoid last-minute preparations to prevent long lines at gas stations.
“The more prepared we are, the easier it is for us to address these storms,” he said.
The governor also advised residents to trim trees and limbs near their homes and to document any potential storm damage with photos for insurance purposes.
While the governor did not mention which parishes specifically are likely to be most impacted by Francine, he warned coastal parishes to be prepared as much as possible.
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Phone: 337-828-3706
Fax: 337-828-2874
Morgan City Review
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Phone: 985-384-8370
Fax: 985-384-4255