Shutdown widening, St. Landry curfew imposed

St. Landry will be under mandatory curfew Tuesday and Wednesday nights as the icy fingers of a winter storm grip the parish.
Parish President Bill Fontenot, Sheriff Bobby Guidroz and all police chief in parish municipalities announced a curfew will be imposed from 6 p.m. Tuesday through 6 a.m. Wednesday and from 6 p.m. Wednesday until 6 a.m. Thursday . No unauthorized travel will be permitted.
St. Landry Parish public and private schools will be closed Tuesday and Wednesday, as will schools in all surrounding parishes.
LSU at Eunice will be closed Tuesday, but a decision regarding Wednesday will not be made until Tuesday, officials said.
Eunice City Hall Tuesday and Wednesday, officials said.
Many businesses are making preparations to either close or operate with minimal employe staffing.
School Supt. Edward Brown said all schools, the central office, the resource center and the pupil appraisal center will be closed and all sports and other extra-curricular activities cancelled.
The National Weather Service expects snow, sleet and freezing rain to coat the area beginning early Tuesday and freezing temperatures to keep it there until well into Wednesday.
The shutdown follows last week’s closure on Friday after snow and sleet coated Acadiana late Thursday and Friday.
The school system’s calendar for the year includes days for extraordinary events such as this, allowing the parish to still meet the state’s required instruction time for a school year.
Brown said the Science Fair is still scheduled for Thursday at the Resource Center.
He said parents that they can take their child’s project to the Resource Center from 7:00 a.m. – 9:00 a.m. on Thursday. The projects will be judged by 3:30 p.m. Thursday afternoon and parents may pick up the projects between 3:30 p.m. and 5:30 p.m.
According to the National Weather Service, total snow accumulations of 2-4 inches is possible in east Texas and central Louisiana, ranging to around 1 inch for the I-10 corridor of southeast Texas and southwest and south central Louisiana.
Total ice accumulations of around one-quarter inch are possible for the I-10 corridor of southeast Texas and southwest and south central Louisiana, ranging to one-tenth of an inch in east Texas and central Louisiana. Of note, south central Louisiana may be in line to see a more significant ice accumulation.
Due to windy conditions Tuesday, power outages may become more numerous for the I-10 corridor, especially in southwest and south central Louisiana.
Due to temperatures below 20 Wednesday morning, snow and ice will be slow to melt off the bridges and overpasses on Wednesday.
At the earliest, the winter precipitation could be melting by Wednesday afternoon, but that will only if temperatures warm up enough. Currently we are forecasting highs in the mid to upper 30s, which may not be enough to melt all of the snow and ice.