Harlan Kirgan
There were no injuries reported in Eunice from Hurricane Delta, but it turned into a tree-toppling mess-maker.
Eunice Mayor Scott Fontenot said Delta was worse for Eunice than Hurricane Laura six weeks ago.
“We have a ton of debris now roadside,” he said at Tuesday’s Board of Aldermen meeting.
Delta struck Friday evening delivering 100 mph winds as it made landfall at Creole as a Category 2 storm. It was the 10th named storm to hit the United States in 2020 — the most ever recorded in a single year.
Delta’s landfall was 13 miles from Laura’s landfall in Cameron on Aug. 27 as a Category 4 storm.
Delta knocked out power to about 680,000 electric customers in Louisiana.
Fontenot estimated about 80% of Cleco’s customers in Eunice were out of power after Delta. The storm dumped 7 to 9 inches of rain, he said.
Fire Chief Mike Arnold said a wind speed gauge at the fire station quit working after clocking 53 mph winds Friday.
Van Reed, St. Landry Parish director of emergency preparedness and public information officer, said the highest wind from Delta at the Opelousas airport was 60 mph.
Eunice probably had a higher wind speed, he said.
Reed said the damage in the parish was still being assessed on Tuesday.
Power had been restored to most electric customers in the parish, he said.
About a dozen houses had trees on them in the parish, he said.
In Eunice, Ronnie’s Place, a bar at Sittig Road and La. 13, lost its roof to Delta’s winds. Much of the roof landed on the railroad tracks behind the bar.
On Saturday morning, James and Kevin Leonards installed blue tarp on the Don and Debbie Leonard’s house on Betty Street.
It was falling trees that caused most of the trouble across the city.
Fontenot urged residents to report any damage on the parish’s website, stlandrypg.org.
The parish has yet to be declared eligible for federal assistance from Laura.
Fontenot said Acadia Parish did qualify for the federal assistance.
Police Chief Randy Fontenot said gusts from Delta probably reached 70 mph.
“Overall, it wasn’t as bad as what we had braced for,” he said of Delta.
One police car flooded during the storm.
One officer from Crowley ended up sleeping in her car, he said.
The backside of the storm passed over Eunice between 10 and 11 p.m., he said.
The chief said he was in the dispatch room and heard the wind.
“I know that was one heck of a gust,” he said. “The building rumbled.”