Plaquemines and St. Bernard Parishes prepare for extreme weather ...

Plaquemines Parish President Billy Nungesser is advising residents to stay off the roads on Thursday. The National Weather Service has issued a tornado watch until 2 p.m. Thursday and flash flood watch until Thursday evening for most of southeast Louisiana.

Plaquemines drainage canals have been pumped down and all drainage pump stations are fully staffed, according to Plaquemines
Parish government.

Both Nungesser and St. Bernard Parish President Dave Peralta are asking that residents tie down any loose objects outside, due to the possibility of tornadoes, damaging winds and heavy rainfall.

Residents also are asked to clear all catch basins.

"We have done everything we can to minimize the chance of flooding," Nungesser said.

"We are as ready as we can be," Peralta said.

Peralta said that he met at 6 a.m. Thursday with his staff and has been in steady contact with the Lake Borgne Basin Levee District. He says that St. Bernard crews have canvassed the parish and checked all pumping stations and circuits.

He said National Weather Service forecasters are telling him that the heavy rain could arrive about 11 a.m. Thursday and could bring an inch and half in the first hour and then about half an inch over the next two to three hours.

"If it pushes through like the National Weather Service tells me, then I think we are fine," Peralta. "But, if it sticks around a while, a comes through slow, I don't know."

In parts of southeast Louisiana, the National Weather Service has foretasted rainfall amounts of 2 to 3 inches, with localized higher amounts to 5 inches possible where lines of showers and thunderstorms form and "train" over the same locations.

The primary threat from these storms is wind gusts of 35 mph to 45 mph, which could down tree limbs and blow around unsecured small objects.

Source: http://www.nola.com/weather/index.ssf/2013/01/plaquemines_and_st_bernard_par.html

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