South Louisiana cleans up after storms; Stephensville school closed today

The Tri-City area experienced damage from straight-line winds in Monday’s storms, and the Belle River area experienced prolonged power outages that caused Stephensville Elementary to cancel school today.
National Weather Service Meteorologist Donald Jones said the weather service received reports of damage in the Morgan City area Monday, mainly due to down trees, which is in line with what much of the region saw during the storms.
Stephensville Elementary School closed today due to extended power outages in Belle River, according to St. Martin Parish Schools Superintendent Lottie Beebe.
Because Beebe received phone calls informing her that Belle River was without power as of Monday, she decided to cancel school today, she said this morning. The school is scheduled to reopen Wednesday, Beebe said.
As of about 10:30 a.m. today, Assumption Parish Sheriff Mike Waguespack said that most of the Pierre Part and Belle River areas, which experienced widespread power outages Monday into today, were supposed to have power back on shortly before noon today. The rest of Pierre Part and Belle River should have power restored by Thursday, Waguespack said.
In Assumption Parish, lots of down trees were reported with some landing on houses, Assumption Parish Sheriff’s Office Spokesman Deputy Robert Martin said. Additionally, wind damage was reported in Assumption Parish, he said.
Elsewhere, the New Iberia airport reported a wind gust of 50 miles per hour, Jones said.
“So it wouldn’t surprise me if that area (St. Mary Parish) received something very similar,” Jones said. All damage caused was due to straight-line winds. Meteorologists received reports of wind gusts up to 60 to 70 mph in the region, he said.
Rainfall Monday in St. Mary Parish ranged from 1.8 inches to 2.8 inches, Jones said. The weather service’s observer in St. Mary Parish recorded about 2.1 inches of rainfall, he said. There were no reports of tornadoes anywhere in the region, Jones said.
Morgan City Utilities Director Bill Cefalu said there were no power outages in Morgan City on Monday.
Cefalu said a lightning arrester blew during the storm, but the city didn’t lose connections with any of its circuits. The lightning arrester protects the city’s power system.
SLECA Spokesman Mark Caldwell said the company experienced minor outages in the area due to Monday’s storms. SLECA covers Amelia, Bayou L’Ourse, Stephensville and Gibson.
From 8 a.m. Monday to 8 a.m. today, Patterson had 44 power outages, Cleco Spokeswoman Robbyn Cooper said. Cleco did sustain some damage to its power system from wind and lightning, Cooper said.
Jones expects weather for the rest of the week to be pleasant. Temperatures today were only supposed to reach about 70 degrees, he said.
“We’re pretty much done with the rainfall for the rest of the week,” Jones said.
The Associated Press reported this morning that power company workers continued to restore electricity to homes and businesses across southeast Louisiana that lost power during Monday’s severe weather.
Entergy says 5,000 customers in New Orleans and 9,000 customers in Jefferson Parish remain without power Tuesday. Over 100,000 lost power during the storms, the Associated Press reported.
High winds downed trees and utilities poles as the weather system moved across southeast Louisiana, the Associated Press reported.
Trees damaged homes from Lake Charles to New Orleans, the report stated.
According to the Associated Press, state officials report no one was hurt during Monday’s storms. Union Pacific Railroad will continue their cleanup of five rail cars carrying 10 freight containers that were blown off the Huey P. Long Bridge approach by high wind gusts, the report said.
Weather forecasters say some additional rainfall is expected today, but nothing like Monday’s downpour, according to the Associated Press.
Sunny and cooler weather takes over and will last through the weekend, according to the National Weather Service forecast.

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