Tri-City chill-out

What was a snowstorm for most of south Louisiana turned out to be icy roads and a slight wintery mix in St. Mary Parish as precipitation wrapped around the parish most of the morning.
Roads were not closed in St. Mary Parish, but ice was reported on most overpasses throughout the parish.
St. Mary Sheriff’s Office spokeswoman Traci Landry said, “The Department of Transportation and Development makes the call to shut down any roadways. ... Now, many of the roadways are considered hazardous because of ice. Regardless of whether a road is physically blocked or closed, we are asking that people not travel until conditions improve.”
She stressed that conditions remain hazardous regardless of closures. Until temperatures rise and the ice melts, “stay off the roads,” she said.
A single-vehicle accident on U.S. 90 westbound in Franklin between the Baldwin and Franklin exits occurred just after 7 a.m. and is believed to be due to the road conditions, Landry said.
Reports of two more crashes on U.S. 90 west on the Garden City overpass and over the Franklin Canal near Franklin exit were reported, Landry said.
Meanwhile, Patterson State Bank and Patterson City Hall closed at noon.
Mayor Rodney Grogan said he is closing City Hall early to ensure workers can get over overpasses to get home.
Berwick and Morgan City closed their city halls at 1 p.m. as a precautionary measure due to road conditions, the mayors said.
St. Mary public and private schools were closed today along with the Young Memorial Campus of South Central Louisiana Technical College.
All parish athletic events associated with public schools have been postponed until the weekend, according to Assistant Superintendent Keith Thibodeaux.
Todd Mogged, forecaster for the National Weather Service in Lake Charles, said precipitation is likely to be tapering off in the area during the afternoon. The weather will remain cloudy and cold throughout the day.
Robbyn Cooper, Cleco spokeswoman, said 1,940 customers in Patterson were without power beginning at 1:20 a.m. By 2:05 a.m., 570 customers were restored. The remaining customers were restored at 3:23 a.m. Cooper said the cold weather impacted some of Cleco’s equipment at a substation. Sleca reported no outages in the area.
Morgan City, Berwick, Patterson and Bayou Vista fire departments reported no overnight incidents. Also, the municipalities said no problems with their utilities were reported.