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Tropical storm Barry, which threatens nearly 20 inches of rain and dangerous storms along the Gulf of Mexico, is expected to land as a hurricane, officials said Friday.
President Donald Trump on Thursday declared a federal emergency for Louisiana, ordering the US government to help states and local communities intervene. Barry's slow motion on the warm waters is expected to increase the power of the storm to at least one Category 1 hurricane designation, according to an update from the National Hurricane Center on Friday afternoon.
New Orleans has issued an on-site shelter order that will come into effect at 8 pm local time because residents rush to prepare for the worst. Flood gates have been shut down throughout the city in anticipation of life-threatening floods along the central Gulf Coast and in the lower Mississippi Valley due to the slow movement of the storm.
The National Weather Service issued a hurricane warning Friday afternoon for parts of Louisiana while Barry was heading for a west-northwest course at about 5 mph.
Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwards said he was confident that the Mississippi River would not overflow, but urged residents to take all possible precautions.
"This is going to be a major rain episode in much of Louisiana," said Edwards, who has authorized the activation of 3,000 National Guard personnel. "Look, there are three ways floods in Louisiana: storm surge, high rivers and rain – we will have all three."
Forecasters predict that Barry could cause a storm surge on the Mississippi between 19 and 20 feet and that the ridge should form early Saturday morning. The city's dikes can protect against 20 feet in the lowest areas and up to 25 feet at its highest points.
New Orleans has 24 pumping stations, which contain 99 stormwater pumps and 21 pumps in dry weather. They include more than 68,000 catch basins, 1,400 miles of underground subterranean drainage, 280 miles of underground and underground canals, affiliated NBC WDSU station.
Richard Rainey of the New Orleans Sewerage & Water Board told the WDSU that the pumps could be submerged if massive amounts of rain hit the area in a short period of time. Wednesday, 20 cm of rain fell over a period of three hours.
"So if we get that kind of volume and that kind of intensity, you'll see flooding of streets," Rainey told WDSU.
The town of Grand Isle, Louisiana, south of New Orleans, ordered the forced evacuation of its inhabitants Thursday at noon. The parish of Plaquemines, southwest of New Orleans, had already begun evacuating residents on Wednesday afternoon.
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