Storms knock out power, down limbs

Storms that came through St. Mary Parish Thursday evening caused hundreds of people to lose power due to trees falling on power lines and lightning strikes. The St. Mary Parish Sheriff’s Office also reported responding to several trees blocking roadways.
At the Harry P. Williams Memorial Airport near Patterson, sustained winds reached 30 mph with gusts up to 46 mph at 5:35 p.m. Thursday, according to the National Weather Service website. At 5:55 p.m. Thursday, sustained winds were at 21 mph with gusts up to 29 mph.
In an email, St. Mary Parish Sheriff’s Office Spokeswoman Traci Landry said deputies responded to complaints as a result of the storm that swept through the parish including a tree that fell onto a power line and then onto the roadway at La. 182 and Verdun Lane in Verdunville, a tree that hit a power line in the 900 block of Big Four Corners Road in Four Corners, and a downed power line at the corner of Southeast Boulevard and Canal Road in Bayou Vista.
Deputies responded to secure the areas and subsequently turned each incident over to the power companies, Landry said. Deputies removed obstructions from roadways as they observed them during their patrol and in response to complaints. They also responded to a tree in the roadway on La. 182 near Caffery Curve in Franklin, a tree in the roadway on Duhon Boulevard in Amelia and debris in the roadway on Delmar Avenue in Bayou Vista, Landry said.
Also Thursday, the St. Mary Parish Sheriff’s Office dispatch received a report of a barge that broke loose from its moorings and began moving down Bayou Boeuf. The U.S. Coast Guard was notified and the Sheriff’s Office Marine Division was contacted. Shortly after, dispatch received word that the barge had been secured, Landry said.
Deputies responded to a report of a tree that fell on a resident’s and their neighbor’s vehicles on La. 318 in Four Corners, but there were no injuries, the release said.
Cleco Spokeswoman Robbyn Cooper said about 700 customers lost power in Berwick and 740 lost power in Franklin.
“Most of the damage was in the Berwick, Franklin and Jeanerette areas,” Cooper said.
Only a few Patterson customers had outages, she said. The outage in Berwick started around 5 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. because of lightning and tree damage, she said. Cleco had power restored to most of St. Mary Parish by 11 p.m. Thursday, Cooper said.
Lightning strikes knocked out power to 425 customers in Morgan City, according to City Utilities Director Bill Cefalu. The areas affected were the Klensville circuit, Cypress Gardens circuit and a lateral fuse feeding Brownell Homes, Cefalu said. City workers restored power within the hour, he said.
Issues with the fuse feeding Brownell Homes continued for two more hours until it could be fixed, Cefalu said.
Klensville includes Front Street to Federal Avenue and Onstead Street to Levee Road. Cypress Gardens includes Onstead Street to Marguerite Street and Sixth Street to Veterans Boulevard.
National Weather Service Meteorologist Tim Humphrey said the Tri-City area only experienced straight-line winds and no tornadic activity. The worst of Thursday’s storm was from about 5:30 p.m. to 6 p.m., Humphrey said.
The area should get a break from storms over the weekend.
Forecasters have projected no chance of storms Saturday and then only a 10 percent chance of afternoon storms Sunday, Humphrey said.
“Monday and Tuesday we start seeing chances increase to your typical 20 to 30 percent chance of afternoon showers and thunderstorms,” Humphrey said.

This story was written by Zachary Fitzgerald of The Daily Review staff. Reach him at zfitzgerald@daily-review.com.