Storm rattles area

Three inches of rain, wind gusts over 45 mph and nearly 1,000 lightning strikes per hour rolled through the Tri-City area Tuesday afternoon but left the eastern end of the parish relatively unscathed.
Andrew Tingler, Lake Charles National Weather Service meteorologist, said the rough weather was worst between 3 and 4 p.m., with nearly 1,000 lightning strikes on average per hour.
“It was pretty prolific to say the least,” Tingler said.
Overall damage and flooding was minimal, area officials said. A tree fell on La. 182 in Patterson, and widespread power outages affected Morgan City.
Bill Cefalu, Morgan City utilities director, said his department received its first outage call at 3:21 p.m. when a power pole behind Hargrave Funeral Home on Victor II Boulevard broke at the base taking down power lines and a transformer.
The pole, which Cefalu said was not rotten, kicked off the Englewood Mall circuit affecting primarily businesses from La. 70 to the Bernice Street area.
At 4:32 p.m. crews turned on circuit, renewing power. Hargrave remains out of power until the pole can be replaced sometime today, he added.
Meanwhile, areas of Sixth Street and Federal and Brashear avenues were out of power for about 20 minutes after a suspected lightning strike took out the Sixth Street feeder. No damage was reported to the equipment, Cefalu said.
Morgan City Mayor Frank “Boo” Grizzaffi said some branches were down, but nothing was reported that required city assistance.
The city did cut short garbage pickup due to the weather and will finish the routes today, he said.
Typical street flooding was seen in Lakeside Subdivision, along with some reports of toilets not flushing properly, Grizzaffi said.
In Patterson, Mayor Rodney Grogan said a tree fell across both lanes of La. 182 near Cajun Jack’s Swamp Tours, closing the road to traffic for about 45 minutes. No other damage was reported, the mayor said.
Minimal street flooding was reported, and water flowed out quickly once the rain ceased, Grogan said.
Berwick Mayor Louis Ratcliff said that while the town was prepared for flooding, no major incidents were reported. It appears, he said, that recent drainage system improvements, affecting the Country Club Estates area, did their job.
No home damage or downed trees were reported in the town, the mayor said.
Cleco spokeswoman Robbyn Cooper said the company saw very few outages.
In the 24 hours ending at 7 a.m., only 42 customers between Amelia and Patterson experienced outages, she said.