Whale beached at Grand Isle
August 26, 2017
BREAKING: Lafourche, Terrebonne schools closed Wednesday due to Harvey
August 29, 2017
Rains related to Tropical Storm Harvey passed in waves over the Bayou Region Tuesday morning, flooding city and subdivision streets and forcing some unexpected holidays. A tropical storm watch was announced in Terrebonne and Lafourche Tuesday morning and was expected to remain in place at least until 6:30 p.m.
Terrebonne Parish President Gordon Dove declared a state of emergency at 9:30 a.m. Lafourche has declared a state of emergency, as well.
Officials warned against idled driving while Harvey’s rains cycled through the area, fearful of wakes from passing cars and trucks pushing water from lawns into houses.
“People shouldn’t be sightseeing,” Terrebonne Parish Sheriff Jerry Larpenter said. “We were getting some of those little feeder bands but a lot of the water is draining out pretty well since the rain stopped. It looked dreary earlier this morning but it looks like the water on the roads is going down. All around the courthouse was flooded and it is going down.”
In Terrebonne Parish courts and related offices were closed, while in Lafourche they were still open as of 10 a.m. Nicholls State University canceled classes for the day, as did Fletcher Technical Community College; schools in Terrebonne as well as Lafourche were closed.
Nine of Terrebonne Parish’s 13 flood control structures were closed as of 10 am. Three were open and a decision was pending on the Boudreaux Canal structure. A decision was made to close the Bubba Dove floodgate later in the day.
Local flooding issues were mild, however, compared to on-going situations in Texas and western Louisiana, where rains torrential and relentless continued all morning.
Rainfall amounts in south Louisiana, including Lafourche and Terrebonne, are expected to reach 5 to 10 inches by late Tuesday night.
Local rescuers, meanwhile, made ready their plans to head west if needed. The Terrebonne-Lafourche Cajun Navy, a volunteer group, was readying vessels and trucks Tuesday morning, monitoring the potential for rescue needs in various parts of the state.
Ricky Whipple, one of the group’s leaders, said he and others would be gathering supplies at stores on Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard early Tuesday afternoon. Whipple was among volunteers checking conditions in some flood-prone areas, including the road that runs between Isle de Jean Charles and Pointe-aux-Chenes.
Local, privately owned boats were among the armada performing rescues in Texas Tuesday night. In some cases the volunteers were overwhelmed by people seeking help, who piled into boats and in one case attempted to proceed through floodwaters in a rescue boat that was disabled. Houston authorities said they had no confirmation of reports that shots were fired during rescues. Those reports were widely circulated on social media and picked up by Texas and national television stations.
A tropical storm watch means that winds over 39 mph are possible within 48 hours, and that they could be accompanied by storm surge or flooding. The watch does not mean those conditions will occur, however.
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