Barry weakens but poses risk of flooding
River no longer expected to top New Orleans levee
Hurricane Barry pushed ashore on the Louisiana coast on Saturday and quickly weakened to a tropical storm. But its torrential downpours still promised the risk of “life-threatening” inland floods in Louisiana and Mississippi, the National Weather Service said.
Barry, which earlier packed just enough sustained winds at 75 mph to qualify as the nation’s first hurricane this season, struck near Intracoastal City, about 150 miles west of New Orleans, according to the National Hurricane Center.
Moving inland, Barry dropped to sustained winds of 65 mph and was centered 20 miles west-southwest of Lafayette, Louisiana, as of 5 p.m. EDT.
Forecasters said Barry could unload 10 to 20 inches of rain through Sunday across a swath of Louisiana that includes New Orleans and Baton Rouge, as well as southwestern Mississippi, with pockets in Louisiana getting 25 inches.
NHC Director Ken Graham warned that slow-moving rain cells would create especially dangerous flooding conditions in southeastern Louisiana, as well as Arkansas, Missouri, Mississippi and parts of Tennessee this week.
“When you put that much rain down in areas around Baton Rouge and Mississippi, those rivers and creeks are filling quickly,” he said.
“That is just an amazing amount of moisture,” he said on Facebook Live, pointing to a weather data board. “That is off the chart.”
But the danger remained. Graham said that in the past three years, inland flooding has accounted for 83% of the deaths during tropical cyclones, half of those in vehicles.
The hurricane brings a tornado threat, too. The highest-risk area is on the east side of the storm, along the Mississippi coast, and Mobile Bay.
“This is just the beginning,” Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards said. “It’s going to be a long several days for our state.”
The Coast Guard rescued more than a dozen people from the remote Isle de Jean Charles, south of New Orleans, where water rose so high that some residents clung to rooftops.
None of the main levees on the Mississippi River failed or were breached, Edwards said. But video showed water overtopping a levee in Plaquemines Parish south of New Orleans, where fingers of land extend deep into the Gulf of Mexico.
Anthony Verdun chose to ride it out in his home in Isle de Jean Charles despite watching the water rise 8 feet in 10 minutes near his raised house.
Verdun, noting his refrigerator was still stocked with a fresh catch of fish from Friday, said he waved off a Coast Guard helicopter Saturday that hovered above his house.
“I gave them the all good,” Verdun said via text message. “My son is in the (Coast Guard) and he told me how to signal so we signaled back, ‘All clear.’ ”
Early Saturday, water spilled over a levee in Myrtle Grove, about 25 miles due south of New Orleans. Photos and video taken by Louisiana Lt. Gov. Billy Nungesser showed water spilling over a levee in Plaquemines Parish at Point Celeste pump station.
Oil and gas operators evacuated hundreds of platforms and rigs in the Gulf of Mexico. Nearly 70% of Gulf oil production and 56% of gas production were turned off Saturday.
Contributing: Doyle Rice, USA TODAY; Andrew J. Yawn, Leigh Guidry, Nick Siano, Lafayette Daily Advertiser; Greg Hilburn, Monroe News-Star; The Associated Press