Winter Storm Warning

Monday, January 27, 2014 Lafayette City-Parish President Joey Durel has declared a state of the emergency for all of Lafayette Parish due to the approaching winter storm. The National Weather Services in Lake Charles has issued a Winter Storm Warning for snow, sleet, and freezing rain which is in effect from 6 a.m. Tuesday to 6 a.m. Wednesday. Snow accumulations between 2 and 3 inches with locally higher amounts are expected north of the Interstate 10 Corridor with amounts between 1 and 2 inches forecast along and south of this corridor. Ice accumulations around a quarter-inch are forecast along and south of the Interstate 10 Corridor with locally higher amounts possible. North of this corridor lesser accumulations are expected. Any ice accumulation will create hazardous driving conditions. Accumulations will be most pronounced on bridges and overpasses. Extreme caution is urged if travel is necessary during the warning period. Based on information from the National Weather Service and the uncertainty of conditions over the next 24 hours, Lafayette Consolidated Government offices will be closed tomorrow. Prolonged periods of frozen precipitation could cause additional problems including power outages as well as downed tree limbs in roadways. Residents are encouraged to plan ahead and once conditions worsen are encouraged to stay off the roads when possible. “We are encouraging people to stay home, especially on Tuesday, and pay attention to media outlets. We don’t want you to put yourselves or your family at risk. In addition, we don’t want to put our emergency personnel in harm’s way,” said City-Parish President Joey Durel.