STAFF REPORTS

With the exception of a few low-lying areas that often get water in the streets, parish officials said yesterday that there were no confirmed reports of water in homes due to the threat of Hurricane Ida or her resulting tropical storm.

Some surge waters did push in flooding streets in the Bayou Lacombe, Palm Lake and the Rigolets areas, all low-lying areas, in the eastern parts of the parish.

It’s hard to tell where the intersection is on the streets of Palm Lake subdivision Tuesday morning as flood waters crept into the neighborhood thanks to the aftermath of Tropical Storm Ida. (Staff Photo by Erik Sanzenbach)

The boat launch area in Covington by the Bogue Falaya River and Third and Fourth Streets also received water in the streets, but no home flooding or other flooding was reported. Louisiana Highway 1077 south of Madisonville is still closed due to a flooding of the roadway.

Tom Beale, spokesperson for St. Tammany Parish, said yesterday the weather conditions in such an emergency are always uncertain so it was taken seriously and treated as though something serious could have happened. The end result, however, was good practice, keeping emergency personnel fresh and procedures in line.

Thankfully, the situation was not serious and everyone from parish to city officials considered the emergency a drill and practice exercise for emergency procedures.

Although there was no need for shelters, some residents did receive sandbags as a precaution.

Parish President Kevin Davis had declared a state of emergency for the parish as of 4 p.m. Sunday

Schools resumed operation as usual yesterday with no reported damage of any kind. All public schools closed three hours earlier than normal on Monday due to the storm threat and no aftercare was available. Archdiocesan schools were closed all day Monday.

Stymiest said on Monday that the greatest concern was with lake water levels. Predictions had indicated a 2-4 foot increase, well within parameters. If the tropical force winds from the east had been sustained, this will adversely affected water levels.

Fred Viegler of the National Weather Service in Slidell said that the highest the storm surge got was around 9:30 p.m. Monday when the tides got up to 4.5 feet.

Normal tidal levels for parish coastline is 1.5 – 2 feet. He also said that the parish was not inundated by a big storm surge because we did not get the usual southwest winds that pushes water to the Northshore. He said also the northwest winds Tuesday morning also helped to push away the flood waters.

Adding to that was the unusually low rainfall during a tropical storm. Viegler said that Slidell had the most rainfall with 0.74 inches and much less further west in the parish.

Except for the flooding in the Palm Lake and Camellia Drive subdivisions, Slidell remained high and dry and didn’t suffer any damages. Fortunately, the floodwaters only covered the streets and did not get into any houses, according to Slidell Mayor Ben Morris.

“Everything is just fine,” Morris said.

In Covington, precautions were taken to “batten down” the city, said Mayor Candace Watkins. All meetings and Mayor’s Court were cancelled in the city. All cases before Mayor’s Court that were scheduled for Monday have been rescheduled for Nov. 30 at 11 a.m. Anyone that had a case before Mayor’s Court should report at that time.

Over in Mandeville, Lake Pontchartrain did not overtop the Mandeville seawall during Tropical Strom Ida. However, Interim Mayor Edward “Bubby” Lyons said high tide Tuesday morning did push some water from the lake up drainpipes and into the streets hours after the eye of the storm made landfall near Mobile, Ala.

Lyons said this was expected and he had barricades ready to be placed in known trouble areas. He also sent out e-mails and placed a notice on the city Web site informing residents that flooding in the first two blocks off Lakeshore Drive was possible and residents should be prepared.

He said Tuesday morning, following high tide, there was as much as 6 inches near the intersection of Jackson Avenue and Lakeshore Drive and another 3-4 four inches at other spots in the first block off the lake, particularly near Marigny Boulevard, Carondelet Street and Girod Street.

“We faired very, very well,” he said Tuesday morning, pointing out that there was no flooding during the storm itself and he knew of no damage from fallen trees or limbs. He estimated the winds at the peak of the storm reaching 30-35 miles per hour.

Another sign that the storm did not have a big impact on parish residents was the low number of houses that lost electric service Monday night at the height of the storm.

Robyn Cooper, spokesperson for Cleco said that out of the parish’s 80,000 electric customers, only 600 lost power from branches falling on power lines. The 600 lost power at 9:30 p.m., but by 11:30, only 14 houses were without power, Cooper said.

“We were prepared and had crews on standby, but fortunately, we did not have a lot of work to do,” Cooper said.

Suzanne Le Breton, Debbie Glover and Erik Sanzenbach contributed to this article.