ST. GABRIEL - Iberville Parish officials are preparing massive sandbags that will be dropped into a cut section of highway being used to drain Spanish Lake Basin should a tropical weather system impact south Louisiana next week.

Meteorologists are closely monitoring Invest 99. Click HERE for the latest from the WBRZ weather team.

Ahead of any plugging operation, though, officials said they are going to cut a larger section of the road in Iberville Parish to drain the basin faster.  The cut will be made Friday morning.

Soon after water rose near the Iberville/Ascension Parish line last week, massive pumps were set up to pump water out.  One pump is capable of pumping 50,000 gallons of water per minute. Our calculations show that you could fill up an Olympic Size Swimming Pool with all of that water every six minutes.  

Tuesday, a 40-foot section of Alligator Bayou Road was cut to allow for quicker draining.  However, officials said with pumps running at full capacity and the flow of water over the cut section of highway, the basin dropped by only 4 inches.  Officials want to drain the area faster and hope an expanded cut will help.

The area can't afford more rain and rising water, officials said.

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