MADISONVILLE, La. — From Lake Pontchartrain in Slidell to the Tchefuncte in Madisonville, wind and water met Tuesday.
That led Chef Michael Gottlieb to clear out the Anchor Bar at Tchefunte’s Restaurant.
"We've absolutely cleaned out The Anchor property 100 percent. We did it in an hour. We'll be able to put it back together pretty quickly, too,” Gottlieb said. “We expect to be back up and running by Friday."
Wind piled water into the Tchefuncte the last two days. Gottlieb expects the water to come up about halfway through The Anchor dining area, which shouldn’t damage it at all.
Parts of the nearby Lake Road looked like a small river. You could see the Tchefuncte River rolling and rising from Vance Doherty’s back dock. Heh says the rising tides and other side effects are simply a way of life living so close to the water.
“It doesn't even have to be a hurricane or a storm,” Doherty said. “A strong southeast wind for three or four days will push it up like this. But as you know, we haven't even gotten a storm yet and it's already over the street."
Doherty says he’s not worried. He’ll stay inside if it gets rough, move the car up the road to higher ground and clean up as soon as he can.
“It's more of a way of life and a hassle,” he said. “You've got to be ready with the pressure washer when it's over, because if you don't get out right away all the soot gets on your dock and it's hard to get off when it dries."
There isn’t much rain expected on the Northshore, maybe 1-to-4 inches in the next two days. There could also be two days of higher-than-usual tides in Madisonville, Mandeville, Lacombe and parts of Slidell as Hurricane Laura moves past us.
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