The hurricane warnings for Iberia, St. Martin and St. Mary parishes have been reduced to tropical storm warnings, according to the National Weather Service in Lake Charles. 

Donald Jones with the NWS said the western rain band of Hurricane Ida is just getting into St. Mary Parish.

“We are no longer expecting sustained hurricane force winds,” Jones said. 

Hurricane gust forecasts show that Iberia Parish will likely get the strongest wind gusts at 9 p.m. tonight, with projected wind gusts of 54 miles per hour.

Storm surge threats for Iberia and St. Mary parish still exists, with the high tide expected to come around 7 a.m. Monday. Jones said the surge will exist between 4 a.m. and 10 a.m. and surges will be possible for Iberia and St. Mary parishes at that time. 

Cleco is reporting 553 homes in St. Mary Parish that are currently without power, along with 54 in Washington Parish and more than 9,000 in St. Tammany Parish. 

Cleco has added 2,000 contractors in addition to its regular work force in preparation for Hurricane Ida, and outages are expected for portions of the Teche Area.