Morgan City looks to be at the center of most tracks for Tropical Storm Barry and the coastal city is hard at work preparing for the eventual hurricane’s Saturday morning south-central Louisiana landfall.
Three to six feet of storm surge is expected along the coast along with category one force winds and heavy rains, but Morgan City Mayor Frank “Boo” Grizzaffi says the city should remain safe.
“We’re not declaring any type of evacuation; we’re not recommending it. We’re pretty safe here in Morgan City as far as our federal flood wall and backwater levees, and with this type of event we believe we will be fine.”
The largest city in St. Mary Parish, Morgan City is home to about 12,000 people.
Grizzaffi says they’ve drained their drainage canals down to the mud, and all of the cities pumps have recently been redone, but depending how much rain they get, there may be street flooding.
“If you get a big gully washer that just doesn’t let up, then we can handle the first five inches. After that then our streets start flooding and hopefully by that time you get a little lull in the action and our pumps can catch up.”
Regardless of how much flash flooding from rain the city gets, Grizzaffi is confident that the city is not in any danger of taking on water from coastal storm surge.
“Morgan City is pretty blessed to have one of the best flood protected areas on the coast, and we’re protected on one side by the federal levee system, which is good for 23 feet. We just close the gates and we’re good to go.”
The Mayor says the city’s backwater levees have been lifted and have never previously been overtopped or breached.
