Tropical Storm — St. Mary, Louisiana

2020-08-26 to 2020-08-27 · St. Mary, Louisiana

Event narrative

There was a voluntary evacuation for the parish. Many trees and power lines were blown down across the parish. Homes and businesses were damaged from trees falling on them or wind. Property south of the intracoastal waterway was flooded by the storm surge. Over 50 percent of the parish was without power immediately after the storm. Wind gusts ranged from 40 to 70 mph. Storm surge reached 9.45 NAVD88 at Cypremort Point.

Wider weather episode

A tropical wave emerged off of Africa during August 16 and then developed into a depression by the 20th. The system gradually became better organized as it passed across the Greater Antilles. It entered the Gulf of Mexico and became a hurricane on the 25th. Outer bands spread inland during the afternoon of the 26th and it made landfall at Cameron at 1AM local time on the 27th as the first category 4 hurricane to landfall in Southwest Louisiana and the strongest Louisiana hurricane since 1856. The highest storm surge to ever be recorded also occurred from Laura which was approximately 21 feet at Rutherford Beach and Creole. Damages totaled roughly $10.7 Billion and 27 fatalities occurred.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 918090. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.