Rivers receding in St. Tammany

The threat of flooding from swollen rivers and other bodies of waters across St. Tammany is finally dwindling, officials from the National Weather Service in Slidell said Friday.

Lake Pontchartrain in Mandeville and Slidell spilled its banks from Gustav’s tidal surge flooding several businesses and homes.

With no place to drain because of the high waters in the lake, a handful of major rivers and smaller tributaries became engorged and overflowed their banks as well.

But now, parish and city officials are breathing sighs of relief because the lake levels are finally dropping, allowing rivers like the Bogue Falaya, Abita and Tchefuncte to return to normal.

Abita Springs town officials said for several days Louisiana Highways 435, 59 and 36 were swamped with waters as the Abita reached its highest crest in 13 years. The last major flood was during the 1995 rain event, town officials said.

Even with the historical river levels, officials said as far as they know, homes and businesses were unscathed by the waters.

Cresting nearly 7 feet above normal flood stage in Covington, the Bogue Falaya also receded without causing structural damage, which was a major concern for Mayor Candace Watkins when she ordered an evacuation of the homes surrounding the river earlier this week.

Madisonville residents weren’t as lucky when the Tchefuncte topped the seawall.

Mayor Peter Gitz said a handful of homes and businesses had minor flood damage but the flooding was nothing compared to 2005.

Exact rainfall totals and wind speed measurements are still unknown, but the NWS said they should have the numbers tallied sometime next week.