Iberville Parish spared brunt of Hurricane Laura

Officials in Iberville Parish prepared for the worst in anticipation of Hurricane Laura, but the entire area was spared the brunt of the storm.

No injuries were reported. Areas throughout the parish lost power for a short time, but fallen limbs and collapsed power lines comprised the brunt of the hardship.

“We got through this great … everything is fine,” Iberville Parish Sheriff Brett Stassi said. “We lost a few trees toward the Maringouin area, but that happens in almost every rainstorm.”

The outcome figured as a stark contrast from forecasts that predicted a far-reaching effect from Laura, which made landfall in Cameron Parish around 1 a.m. Monday.

Laura packed 150 mph winds upon landfall – the strongest since 1856, according to the National Weather Service.

Lake Charles endured the brunt of the onslaught through widespread damage from heavy winds, but a smaller storm surge spared the city from severe flooding forecasters predicted.

Officials in Iberville Parish had put emergency plans in place during the weekend for Tropical Storm Marco and kept them intact for Laura.

Iberville Parish had endured widespread damages from hurricanes including Katrina, Rita, Gustav and Isaac. Local officials braced for the same magnitude of damage as they prepared for Laura.

“This time, we got the good end of the deal,” Stassi said. “You can’t get complacent because otherwise you get the bad end instead.

“We were prepared, and everybody had all the sandbags they needed,” he said. “We picked up all the debris, and this turned out to be a good exercise to stay ready, and we hope we don’t have to do it again.”