ST. MARY PARISH — Wednesday morning’s severe weather left a mark on St. Mary Parish—especially at the Morgan City headquarters of the St. Mary Parish Sheriff’s Office, where strong winds ripped part of the roof from the building and scattered debris across the property.
“Everybody was pushing water out, and getting debris up—it was all hands on deck,” said Lieutenant David Spencer, PIO for the St. Mary Parish Sheriff’s Office, describing the immediate response from staff after the winds passed through.
Spencer noted that while they worked quickly to begin cleanup, the structure’s age made it vulnerable to Wednesday’s gusts. “It’s an older building, and just like a lot of times when you get the strong winds, the trees that are problematic—not as strong—just like this old building that had an older roof on it… anything like that, that’s where you start to see the damage. And that’s what we got,” he said.
Much of the roof debris ended up scattered across the adjacent gym facility. “This line right here was hanging down,” Spencer added, pointing to a damaged section. “Most of the damage came off this building right here and we had debris here, and some of it came up and over the gym and was hanging off the other side.”
While the sheriff’s office took the brunt of the impact, the rest of the parish saw relatively minor issues. Deputies reported downed trees in areas like Amelia but found no major structural damage or injuries.
“Our deputies started sending me images from around the parish of some trees that were down—we had some trees that were down in Amelia and some other places,” Spencer explained. “We had some trees down but we haven’t seen anything, you know, as far as vehicles getting hit or houses getting hit. So that was good. Really, the worst that I know of is our own building.”
Despite the damage, the sheriff’s office remains fully operational. Plans are also underway for the department to relocate. “We’re in the process of building a new branch office in Centerville and that will consolidate our criminal division and our motorpool will be there,” Spencer said. “So we’re thinking about a year to a year and a half we’ll be over there.”
In the meantime, the department encourages residents to stay weather-aware, report hazards, and remain cautious as cleanup continues across the parish.
