Parish prepares for Bonnie

Even though tropical storm Bonnie did not develop into a hurricane, parish officials were not taking any chances Friday and Saturday and did what they had to do to get the parish ready for what might turn into something worse.

Friday, the National Weather Service said Bonnie was turning into just a big rainstorm, and was expected to make landfall in Louisiana sometime by 8 a.m. today.

Worrying that the storm would push water laden with the oil from the BP oil spill into Lake Pontchartrain, Parish President Kevin Davis was hoping to keep the line of barges at the mouth of the Rigolets to block oil. However, the U.S. Coast Guard had other ideas and wanted to move the line of barges. Davis issued an executive order forbidding anyone to touch the barges under threat of arrest.

But after 10 hours of negotiations, the Coast Guard agreed to keep the barges in St. Tammany Parish. Parish spokeswoman, Suzanne Parsons Stymiest said the barges have been moved to the lagoons in Lakefront Estates on the east side of the Twin Span bridge.

Also the parish has cleared out the Unified Command Center at Fort Pike until the storm passes. The command vehicles are also at Lakeshore Estates. The oil boom and other equipment are stored at Camp Villere off Interstate 12, and personnel are being housed at the St. Tammany Sheriff’s Training Center in Pearl River.

“President Davis is very pleased that we were able to keep our assets,” Parsons said.

She said depending on the intensity and direction of the storm, the barges may be re-deployed shortly.

As for the oil, Parsons said that no oil has been spotted either inside or outside of the protected areas, but the parish will continue to monitor the waters closely.

Mandeville Mayor Donald Villere said they were expecting 2-3 inches of rain, and he had workers cleaning out drainage ditches and offered sandbags to any resident that wanted them.

He said the city was in “good shape.”

That was the same feeling by new Slidell Mayor Freddie Drennan.

He said his staff was keeping a close eye on the storm and watching to see where flooding might occur.

The city had two locations where residents could pick up sandbags. He said officials were keeping an eye on such areas as Palm Lake and Camellia Drive that usually flood during heavy storms.

“We’ve taken barriers out there just in case we have to close down the roads if it floods,” Drennan said.

He also had crews manning all three pumping stations, but he did not expect anything major to occur.

“But we are ready to do more if necessary,” the mayor said.

In Covington, generators were being tested and clean up equipment was pre-positioned in case debris had to be cleared away after the storm.

The American Red Cross said this was a good time for everybody to make sure they have the right supplies and a plan on what to do in case the worst happens. Red Cross officials have identified potential shelters and had personnel and supplies in place, just in case.

Parsons said the parish had no plans to open any of the shelters, but the buildings, which are usually schools, are ready.

“If the situation changes, we will be able to open them quickly,” Parsons said.

Erik Sanzenbach, Debbie Glover and Suzanne Le Breton contributed to this article.