NEW ORLEANS — Much of the southeast Louisiana coast is now under a tropical storm warning as Tropical Storm Barry inches closer to the coast.
Residents who live in the warned areas are likely to feel the impacts of the storm - including heavy rains and flooding - beginning Friday into Saturday.
“Residents should refresh your preparations for this storm," reminded Parish President Pat Brister. Have your emergency plans in place, clear debris from your drains, check on your elderly neighbors, have medications in stock, and make sure your family communication plan is set.”
Here are some of the preparations St. Tammany Parish officials have taken to protect the low-lying land, ahead of the storm making landfall.
City Government
- Brister signed an Emergency Declaration for the St. Tammany Thursday morning.
- Parish government offices will open for normal business hours Friday from 8 a.m. – 4:30 p.m.
- The Tammany Trace, Camp Salmen Nature Park, and the Kid Konnection playground will be closed Saturday and Sunday.
Public Safety
- The parish will officially activate the Emergency Operations Center beginning Friday, July 12 at 7 p.m. and plans to have their partner agencies embedded.
- Officials have asked that all residents heed barricades and do NOT go around them
Infrastructure
- The parish has five operational sandbag locations, is working with the City of Slidell in their sandbag operations. The parish distributed 3,225 sandbags.
- If there are any road closures, the parish will update them on the Waze app.
- Public Works crews have pumped down ponds in order to retain additional storm water, and teams are inspecting ditches and removing debris
- Tammany Utilities has implemented their storm protocols for their water and sewerage locations.
Information
- The parish will push out any and all information through Access St. Tammany Television; Social Media, its website, and the local media outlets.
- Sign up now for ALERT St. Tammany, here. This is the Parish-wide emergency notification system for St. Tammany Parish Government.