Tropical Storm Barry has formed in the Gulf and projected to make landfall along the Louisiana coast sometime Saturday morning. Matt Doyle has more.
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Coastal parishes are advising residents in low-lying areas to seek higher ground as Tropical Storm Barry is expected to produce a dangerous storm surge and heavy rains. Jeff Palermo has more…
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Slow-moving Tropical Storm Barry is projected to make landfall along the Louisiana coast sometime Saturday morning. The center of prediction tracks has Barry making landfall somewhere in south-central Louisiana around 7AM, but State Climatologist Barry Keim says it’s still highly unpredictable.
Keim says the system will only be at hurricane one strength winds when it makes landfall, but the biggest concern is storm surge and rainfall.
Storm surge levels are estimated at between three to six feet at the mouth of the Atchafalaya River to Shell Beach in Cameron Parish.
Keim says tropical storm conditions will begin Friday night and take a noticeable turn for the worse Saturday morning along the coast, and that afternoon in the Baton Rouge area.
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Mandatory evacuations have been ordered for the low-lying areas of Jefferson and Plaquemines Parishes. A voluntary evacuation has been called for areas south of Leon Theriot Lock in Golden Meadow and Port Fourchon in Lafourche Parish. Lafourche Sheriff’s office spokesperson Brennan Matherne says they expect water will cover Highway One in that area
Matherne says they are anticipating strong winds and heavy rainfall in Lafourche and residents there are taking this storm seriously…
Plaquemines Parish Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness spokesperson Jade Duplessis says the height of the Mississippi River and the potential for levees to overtop is their main concern…
Duplessis says their mandatory evacuation order affects eight to ten-thousand residents in low-lying areas of the parish…
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Governor Edwards says Tropical Storm Barry will be a major weather event for much of Louisiana. The storm is expected to make landfall Saturday morning as a Category One hurricane. But Edwards provided has some good news. He says the storm surge forecast at the mouth of Mississippi River has been lowered…
Cut 10 (12) “…Mississippi River.”
Edwards says flooding is the biggest concern. Power outages are also likely. He says if you have yet to prepare for this storm, now is the time to do it…
Cut 11 (11) “…hurricane force winds”
Louisiana National Guard Major General Glenn Curtis says three-thousand of their soldiers have been deployed…
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The United Cajun Navy has been activated in anticipation of Barry’s Saturday landfall along the Louisiana coast. Founder Todd Terrell says many of the Louisiana based members are scrambling to protect their own homes, so in a twist, it’s Cajun Navy members from outside of Louisiana coming here to help…
The organization has built a nationwide volunteer base after operations in other disaster zones over the past three years.
Terrell says they’ve mobilized their volunteers to help make sandbags in the Baton Rouge area, which is set to potentially see over a foot of rainwater.
Hurricane preparation can be difficult for those who can’t carry heavy loads of supplies and sandbags, so Terrell says they’re reaching out to see if people in the community could use some help with sandbags.