Zachary Fitzgerald
High water is here to stay at least for a while. Forecasters anticipate the Atchafalaya River will stay above 7 feet through early April after reaching its projected 8-foot crest March 15 in Morgan City.
The initial projected crest was March 20 at the same height. The river has already crested once this year, reaching 6 ½ feet in late January. Flood stage is 6 feet, but that level typically doesn’t cause much, if any, issue for residents and businesses. The river had risen to near 7.4 feet as of Thursday morning.
Once the Atchafalaya crests, the river should gradually drop but could stay over 7 feet into early April depending on how much local and upriver rainfall occurs, said Roger Erickson, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service’s Lake Charles office.
Officials don’t yet know whether the region may experience a higher crest later this spring. However, the region is in an El Niño season, which often brings a wet spring, Erickson said.
“That would just be something to be monitoring and watching,” he said.
St. Mary Parish officials planned to declare a state of emergency Thursday as a precautionary measure in case conditions get worse than expected, Chief Administrative Officer Henry “Bo” LaGrange said.
As of sundown Wednesday, the U.S. Coast Guard started prohibiting tugboats towing vessels from transiting Berwick Bay at nighttime until further notice due to the high water, said Lt. Timothy Veach, director of the Vessel Traffic Service for Berwick Bay.
St. Martin Parish President Chester Cedars declared a state of emergency Monday due to the flood threat in lower St. Martin Parish, which includes Stephensville.
Beginning Wednesday, officials started distributing sand bags at Stephensville Park on La. 70. Sand bags will be at that location seven days a week from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. for at least the next week, Cedars said. By Wednesday afternoon, officials had distributed 3,500 sand bags.
St. Martin authorities said earlier this week that they already had taken several preventive measures to prepare for the river rise and continue to monitor the waterways. A no-wake zone is in effect until further notice for the Stephensville area.
Cedars has authorized the acquisition of some additional pumps to ensure St. Martin leaders are “fully prepared” in the event of any flooding problems.
The St. Mary Levee District is addressing some minor issues in Amelia to prevent any possible flooding in that area, Levee District Executive Director Tim Matte said. St. Mary Parish government also has a sand bag station set up under the La. 182 bridge in Amelia.
Morgan City officials have closed five floodgates so far and plan to close two more gates by PMI Environmental Services within the next few days, Mayor Frank “Boo” Grizzaffi said.
Berwick has closed the First Street gate, Lima and Pacific street gate and Gus Street gate. Town leaders don’t expect to have to close any more gates based on the projected crest, Mayor Duval Arthur said.