Gulf Coast braces for storm, with foot of rain forecast

NEW ORLEANS — A system packing tropical stormforce winds churned through the Gulf of Mexico toward the Southern U.S. on Friday, lashing coastal communities with bands of rain, forcing the postponement of Juneteenth celebrations in Mississippi and Alabama.

Forecasters said the broad system was moving north over the Gulf of Mexico with maximum sustained winds of 45 mph.

The looming weather imperiled Father’s Day weekend commerce in tourism areas already suffering economic losses caused by the coronavirus pandemic. A tour company in Crown Point, La., canceled outings Friday and was afraid it would have to do the same for Saturday.

Austin Sumrall, owner and chef at the White Pillars Restaurant and Lounge in Biloxi, Miss., had 170 reservations on his books for Sunday, but was concerned that some patrons would cancel.

“We saw, especially last year, the rug can get jerked out from under you pretty quickly,“he said.

A tropical storm warning was in effect for parts of Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida — extending from Morgan City, La., to the OkaloosaWalton County line in the Florida Panhandle. Coastal surge flooding was possible and flash flood watches extended along the coast from southeastern Louisiana into the Florida panhandle and well inland into Mississippi, Alabama and western Georgia.

“I hope it just gets in and gets out,” said Greg Paddie, manager of Tacky Jack’s, a restaurant at Alabama’s Orange Beach.

Mayor Jeff Collier of Dauphin Island, off Alabama’s coast, said officials there had already contacted debris removal contractors and made sandbags available to residents.

“We’re pretty well prepared to the extent that we can be,” Collier said. “This is not our first rodeo.”

In Louisiana’s vulnerable Plaquemines Parish, the local government warned mariners that locks and a floodgate in the Empire community, near where the Mississippi River meets the Gulf, would close. Health officials ordered oyster harvesting areas closed along much of Louisiana’s coast due to possible stormdriven pollution.

Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards issued a state of emergency late Thursday. The move authorizes the use of state resources to aid in storm response efforts.

Forecasters said the system could deliver up to 12 inches of rain through the weekend along the central U.S. Gulf Coast.