Flooding danger still high as Barry weakens
River no longer expected to top New Orleans levee
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 overland, Barry dropped to 70 mph, falling back to tropical storm status while remaining a threat into next week from heavy rain.
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. Graham urged residents to heed local authorities and stay off the roads when the flooding begins.
“That is just an amazing amount of moisture,” he said on Facebook Live, pointing to a weather data board. “That is off the chart.”
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.
As the storm drew closer Saturday morning, the Coast Guard said it was rescuing more than a dozen people stranded by flooding on a remote Louisiana island that has been shrinking for years.
Petty Officer Lexie Preston said some of the people were on rooftops on the Ishurricane le de Jean Charles, about 45 miles south of New Orleans. He said four people and a cat were removed by helicopter and a boat was heading to the area to help get the rest of the people off the island.
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, one of the highest on the island.
Contributing: Doyle Rice, USA TODAY; Andrew J. Yawn, Leigh Guidry, Nick Siano, Lafayette Daily Advertiser; Greg Hilburn, Monroe News-star; The Associated Press