Parish present and Slidell Mayor will discuss preparations made in advance of Tropical Storm Gordon’s expected landfall on the Gulf Coast.
Officials in St. Tammany Parish will outline storm preparations Tuesday (Sept. 4) in advance of Tropical Storm Gordon’s landfall along the Gulf Coast.
The National Hurricane Center’s current track has Gordon making landfall in Mississippi, just east of the Louisiana border, early Wednesday morning.
( See storm updates here .)
Parish President Pat Brister and Slidell Mayor Greg Cromer will meet with the media at 11 a.m. Tuesday in the St. Tammany Parish Emergency Operations Center. NOLA.com will cover the news conference live on Facebook.
Cromer said he and Brister have been talking over the past two days to work on storm prep. City crews were out Tuesday „staking off“ streets some low-lying areas, such as the Palm Lake subdivision, to mark the roadways in case they become covered with water, the mayor said.
„That way people can still drive on them in their high-water vehicles“ and know where the shoulders are, Cromer said.
„As long as they’re not pushing water into houses, we’ll be OK with it. But if it (the water) gets too high we’ll be out later closing roads,“ he said.
If the storm continues on its projected track, Cromer said Slidell and eastern St. Tammany shouldn’t experience any major problems but could see some minor flooding in areas that traditionally flood.
Schools in St. Tammany Parish are closed Tuesday for the possibility of severe weather, as are parish government offices. Northshore Technical Community College is also closed Tuesday. Slidell city offices opened at 8 a.m. but might close early on Tuesday as the storm approaches.
The St. Tammany Parish Sheriff’s Office said it would also send its non-essential employees home at 2 p.m. Tuesday.
Sand bags will continue to be distributed in Slidell and around the parish Tuesday. Parish government spokesman Ronnie Simpson said Monday night that 40,000 sandbags had been distributed at the sites operated by the parish.
Parish sandbag hours are from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Here are the parish distribution locations:
Slidell sandbag hours are 7 a.m. until 6 p.m. Here are the distribution locations:
