Editor’s note: The Courier and Daily Comet combined and printed an early edition today to avoid severe weather from Tropical Storm Barry that could make it difficult or dangerous to deliver the newspaper.
SPORTS | B1
BREAKING DOWN THE NICHOLLS SCHEDULE
L O U I S I A N A P R E S S A S S O C I AT I O N N E W S PA P E R O F T H E Y E A R
Saturday, July 13, 2019
Houma & Thibodaux, Louisiana
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BARRY IS HERE
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Nicholls student veteran volunteers place sandbags around a home on Lafourche Drive in Thibodaux Friday. [JULIA ARENSTAM/ A satelitte images show Tropical Storm Barry sprawled across the entire Gulf of Mexico on Friday afternoon. [NOAA]
STAFF -- HOUMATODAY/DAILYCOMET]
Student veterans help prepare for Barry By Julia Arenstam Staff Writer
Accustomed to being deployed to storm sites and war zones, the student veterans at Nicholls State University took advantage of the day off Friday by helping Thibodaux residents prepare for Tropical Storm Barry. The group of veterans met up at the Lafourche Parish Public Works barn in Thibodaux this morning to help residents fill sandbags and stock up to deliver their own all over town. Jennifer Cheramie lives on West Camellia Street with her 91-year old mother. She went to the barn Friday morning, shovel-less and unsure what to do but quickly found help from the vets. The group delivered dozens of sandbags and placed them around her back doors to prevent water from entering the house. Asking each one of the volunteers for their names, Chermaie was overjoyed to have their help. “This is so wonderful, it’s a Godsend,” she said. “I love all our veterans, but especially these ones.”
The Camellia Street area is known to flood during high rain events. Thibodaux could expect as much as 15 inches of rain from the storm. Gilberto Burbante, coordinator for veterans services at Nicholls, organized the effort Friday. As a veteran of the Marine Corps, Army and current National Guard member, Burbante said this is the first storm where he hasn’t been called into action. When Nicholls announced the university would be closed Friday, he began reaching out to members of the student veterans organization and posted on social media to find anyone that may need help. Ben Vosburgh, a National Guardsman, said he’s being deployed to Camp Beauregard in Pineville for storm response efforts. Before he heads out of town, Vosburg said he wanted to help out the local community first. “Everyone needs help during a storm,” he said. “Everyone needs something.” As the group was See VETERANS, A8
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Heavy rain and potential flooding are the biggest concerns By Dan Copp Staff Writer
Rain continues to be the main concern for the HoumaThibodaux area as Tropical Storm Barry churns toward the coast, forecasters said. "The biggest threat will be the flooding potential," Kevin Gilmore, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Slidell, said Friday afternoon. "We’re looking at 20 inches of rainfall before it’s all said and done, with localized higher amounts in the HoumaThibodaux region." As of Friday evening, the storm was moving westnorthwest at 5 mph and was projected to make landfall early Saturday near Morgan
Tropical Storm Barry
City, according to the National Hurricane Center. "The storm has strengthened up to 65 mph winds," Gilmore said. "The track still strengthens it as a minimal hurricane right before landfall early tomorrow morning. The track takes it fairly close to Houma. It will be a little west, but we stress to people not to just focus on the center track. The greater effects will be to the east of the center, which includes all of southern Louisiana." The slow-moving storm’s flooding potential prompted Terrebonne, Lafourche and Thibodaux officials to enact curfews. Terrebonne’s curfew See BARRY, A6
28.4° N, 90.6° W, as of 1 p.m. Friday, moving WNW at 5 mph with 65 mph maximum sustained winds (CDT (C CD ti times))
7 a.m. Wed.
40˚N
7 a.m. Tues. 35˚N
7 a.m. Mon.
7 a.m. Sun.
7 p.m. Sat.
GA.
30˚N
TEXAS
Gulf of Mexico 7 a.m.
25˚N
1 p.m. Fr ri. Fri.
Hurricane Tropical storm Watch Watch Warning Warning 20˚N
95˚W
90˚W
85˚W
Data as of 1 p.m. CDT Friday Source: nhc.noaa.gov GATEHOUSE MEDIA
Down the bayou, residents feel prepared for Barry By Halle Parker Staff Writer
Standing in the shallows next to La. 665 in Pointe-auxChenes, Ricky Landry tossed his handlines into the water, luring crabs with fish heads as bait. He had already caught a couple dozen that were sitting in a green basket. In front of him, levees rose up. Over the horizon, the gray clouds were a sign of Tropical Storm Barry drawing closer. The worst of the rain was expected to start in about eight hours around 8 p.m. Though he lives in Houma,
Obituaries ................. A6 Opinion .....................A7 Weather .....................A3
Landry drove down to Pointeaux-Chenes Friday morning to try to catch more shrimp. He had caught about 10 pounds worth on Thursday. But the shrimp weren't as eager on Friday, so the crabs will complement the shrimp he already has while his family waits out the storm this weekend. "We got a bad thing coming, and we make something good out of it," said Landry. "We get to eat." Though Tropical Storm Barry is expected to drop anywhere from 10 to 20 inches of rain across southeast See BAYOU, A6
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TO DAY
S U N DAY
M O N DAY
Stray t-storm 96° / 75°
Mostly sunny 96° / 76°
A t-storm 95° / 77°