Warning of tornadoes and deluges as Barry weakens
• First hurricane of Atlantic season still packs a heavy punch in Louisiana after being downgraded to tropical storm
Tropical storm Barry buffeted the US state of Louisiana on Sunday, bringing warnings of heavy rain and even tornadoes as it weakened.
The first hurricane of the Atlantic season was downgraded to a tropical storm after hitting the coast on Saturday. It was still packing a heavy punch as it moved inland, but there was little sign of widespread flooding.
Flights in and out of the airport in the state’s biggest city New Orleans resumed on Sunday after all were cancelled a day earlier. Thousands of people quit their homes, tens of thousands lost power and rescuers were poised for action.
Fear of the New Orleans levee system being compromised eased as army engineers said they were confident it would hold, but mayor LaToya Cantrell told residents not to be complacent. “We are not in any way out of the woods,” she said. There could still be flash floods.
President Donald Trump warned of major flooding in large parts of Louisiana and across the Gulf Coast. He tweeted: “Please be very careful!”
Louisiana governor John Bel Edwards said on Saturday the storm would intensify into Sunday, with more rain at night than during the day. “Don’t let your guard down thinking the worst is behind us,” he said.
On Sunday morning, the storm packed maximum sustained winds of 72km/h and was southeast of Shreveport in western Louisiana, moving north at 9.5km/h, the National Hurricane Centre said. “Barry is forecast to weaken to a tropical depression later today,” it said.
Pete Gaynor, acting administrator of the federal emergency management agency, said “there are still life-threatening conditions” as Barry moves north.
“The rain is the threat,” he said, not only while it falls but in a couple of days as flood waters move back down the Mississippi River to the Gulf of Mexico.
Tornadoes were possible in parts of Louisiana, Mississippi, western Alabama and eastern Arkansas, said the National Hurricane Centre. But rainfall estimates were cut to 15cm-30cm.
Powerful wind scattered tree branches across roads and flattened road signs. In St John’s Parish next to New Orleans, local TV footage showed some areas under 60cm of water.
With the eye of the storm at the small town of Intracoastal City, part of the main road and some waterfront businesses were flooded on Saturday afternoon with water rising fast.
News footage showed flooding, swollen waterways and felled power lines and trees across south Louisiana. Rivers overflowed levees in several places, including part of coastal Terrebonne Parish, where authorities ordered evacuation.
The Atchafalaya River swallowed the waterfront pedestrian promenade in Morgan City, which was without power, as members of the Cajun Navy citizen rescue group assembled under a highway overpass.
“We’re just neighbours helping neighbours,” said John Billiot, the group’s president.
The group, which has conducted volunteer rescues since Hurricane Katrina in 2005, mustered five flat-bottom rescue boats, a high-clearance, military-style truck and 86 other boats across the region in preparation for the latest storm.
For many, the storm and potential for large-scale flooding revived unpleasant memories of deadly Hurricane Katrina.
Thousands packed and left home as flood waters hit lowlying areas like Plaquemines Parish, where road closures isolated some communities. Others braced to ride out the squall, despite evacuation orders and the risk of storm surges.
Repair man William Manuel of Bayou Vista, near Morgan City, described Barry as a “thunderstorm”, and said: “I’ll be back to work on Monday.”
But experts say that Louisiana faces an extraordinarily dangerous set of conditions. The level of the swollen Mississippi River was nearly 5.2m in New Orleans, which was just under flood level.
Edwards said new forecasts show many rivers will not reach maximum heights predicted, but flash floods remain a threat.
US senator Bill Cassidy said army engineers told him they were confident the 6m-high levee system protecting New Orleans would hold.