NEW ORLEANS - Coastal Louisiana felt the
first blow from Tropical Storm Barry's winds early on Friday as
the slow-moving tempest was forecast to become the first
Atlantic hurricane of 2019 threatening to bring rain and
flooding to New Orleans.
The storm was forecast to bring torrential rains of up to 25
inches (64 cm) in isolated places, which could cause
life-threatening flooding along the Mississippi River, which has
been running at flood stage for months, officials warned.
U.S. President Donald Trump declared a state of emergency
for Louisiana and the region's oil production was cut in half as
energy companies evacuated offshore drilling facilities.
Tropical Storm Barry packed maximum sustained winds of 50
miles per hour (85km per hour) early Friday and was centered 95
miles (155km) southwest of the mouth of the Mississippi River.
Barry will likely strengthen into a hurricane, the National
Hurricane Center said, with winds of at least 74 mph (119km) by
the time it comes ashore late Friday or early Saturday, but
officials warned that torrential rains posed the greatest
danger.
It was forecast to bring a coastal storm surge into the
mouth of the lower Mississippi River that winds through the
heart of New Orleans, pushing its crest to 19 feet (5.79 m) on
Saturday. That would be the highest since 1950 and dangerously
close to the top of the city's levees.
New Orleans is already saturated after torrential rains
flooded streets on Wednesday.
"If it's worse than the other day, it'd be the worst week
since Katrina," said Robert Harris, 61, as he polished his
trombone standing on a sidewalk.
Memories of the 2005 storm, which flooded much of the city
and killed 1,800 people on the Gulf, are deeply embedded in New
Orleans and have colored many residents' reactions to storms.
'EVERYBODY'S UNSURE'
The brunt of the storm was expected to skirt the western
edge of New Orleans, avoiding a direct hit. New Orleans Mayor
LaToya Cantrell said the city has not ordered any voluntary or
mandatory evacuations. But she added that 48 hours of heavy
downpours could overwhelm pumps designed to purge streets and
storm drains of excess water in the low-lying city.
"There is no system in the world that can handle that amount
of rainfall in such a short period," Cantrell said on Twitter.
Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwards warned: "The more
information we get, the more concerned we are that this is going
to be an extreme rain event."
Officials from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which
maintains the levees, insisted that no significant breaching of
the 20-foot-tall levees in New Orleans was likely.
Mandatory evacuation orders were issued for areas of
Plaquemines Parish beyond the levees southeast of the city, and
for low-lying communities in Jefferson Parish, to the southwest.
Barry has shut more than 1 million barrels of offshore oil
production and the coastal evacuation orders forced one refinery
to halt operations.
New Orleans residents who plan to ride out the storm flocked
to supermarkets for bottled water, ice, snacks and beer,
thronging grocery stores in such numbers that some ran out of
shopping carts. Throughout the city, motorists left cars parked
on the raised median strips of roadways hoping the extra
elevation would protect them from flood damage.
Armani McGriff, a 29-year-old retail worker, said she picked
up nonperishable food and candles after the flooding earlier
this week.
She remembered how Katrina uprooted her life at the age of
15, forcing her family to move constantly, but she could not
decide whether the coming storm posed a real threat.
"Everybody’s unsure," McGriff said.