On Wednesday morning the Port of Morgan City hosted their 12th annual hurricane preparedness meeting at the Emergency Operations Center inviting many leaders and government officials from around St. Mary Parish.
The ceremony began with a welcome from the Port of Morgan City Director, Mac Wade and continued on with other speakers from
- The National Weather Service in Lake Charles
- The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association
- St. Mary Parish Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness
- St. Mary Levee District
- United States Coast Guard
- The St. Mary Parish Sheriff’s Department and more
The attendees of the meeting consisted of area fire departments, police departments, Acadian Ambulance, city officials, the U.S. Coast Guard, and many more.
Doug Cramer from the National Weather Service warned the officials that the 2024 Hurricane Season is sure to be a very active one due to the ocean temperatures across the Atlantic, Carribean, and the Gulf of Mexico being hot. Cramer also explained that we are entering what is called an ENSO phase, which by definition is a recurring climate pattern involving changes in the temperature of waters in the central and eastern tropical Pacific Ocean. On periods ranging from about three to seven years, the surface waters across a large swath of the tropical Pacific Ocean warm or cool by anywhere from 1°C to 3°C, compared to normal.
The majority of the speakers at the meeting encouraged the departments to take action early to be prepared for the upcoming hurricane season.
“Preparedness is the most important thing”, said Tim Osborn, from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association. Osborn told the audience to take images and documentation of what each facility holds including boats or vessels. If a storm were to hit the area, this information would be needed to send to mayor’s and government officials to understand the impact of the area.
For the latest updates for St. Mary Parish visit St. Mary Parish Office of Homeland Security & Emergency Preparedness website at St. Mary Parish Office of Emergency Preparedness and Homeland Security – Get a game plan and always be ready. (stmaryohsep.org).