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Tropical Storm Barry was turned into a Category 1 hurricane as it was approaching the Louisiana coast on Saturday morning with sustained maximum winds of 75 mph, officials said.
The National Weather Service reported that at 11 am the storm was moving northwest to Morgan City in the northeast at about 6 mph causing a dangerous storm surge and high winds the region.
"With the majority of storms and rain on the southern flank of the storm, and still offshore, the heaviest rain will continue today and tomorrow," Fox News meteorologist Brandon said Saturday. Noriega. "The threat of flooding is therefore not over, especially in central Louisiana."
He said earlier that in the Mississippi Valley, inland, forecasters expect to see rain and floods just days after the storm. Isolated tornadoes are also possible in the area until Sunday.
The water passes over the dike at the Point Celeste pumping station in Louisiana while Hurricane Barry lands.
(Lieutenant Governor Billy Nungesser)
Hurricane Barry is expected to hit land near Marsh Island before making its way to the mainland.
Louisiana and parts of Mississippi would be the most affected by the storm, wind and rain affecting more than 3 million people.
Some parishes in Louisiana around Morgan City reported more than half of their clients without electricity by daylight on Saturday.
THE SAFE COAST GUARD 12 INSERTED ON THE DISTANT ISLAND OF LOUISIANA
More than 50,000 people in southern Louisiana had lost power and some roads were under water, at the edge of Louisiana struck by storm and coastal Mississippi and Alabama flooded with rain .
In the coastal community of Isle de Jean-Charles, the US Coast Guard successfully rescued 12 people trapped after the rising waters cut it off.
TROPICAL STORM BARRY PROMOTES STORM OVERVOLTAGE, WARNINGS AGAINST FLOODING: WHY DOES NEW ORLEANNE HAVE AN INCREASED RISK?
Once again in New Orleans, the rain fell. At dawn, the streets of the tourist district of the French Quarter, usually very noisy, were largely empty and barely wet. Dog walkers and a street sweeper passed by. There was a breeze, but the flags on the balconies overlooking the deserted streets still fell softly. Some cars were on the roads. Some neighboring houses had piled sandbags in front of their doors.
"Until then, it was really cool, it was cool, it was a little windy," said Wayne Wilkinson, who was out with his dog in the French Quarter. He praised the respite before the storm of the stifling heat of July, but said he was aware that things might change: "I know we have to be on the alert."
Baton Rouge, devastated by the floods of 2016, was also calm Saturday, leaving puddles left by rains falling at night, the wind shaking the trees and only a few cars and trucks on the Interstate 10 In Alabama, rain hit the east coast of Mobile Bay during the night, with power outages scattered in communities such as Daphne along Interstate 10.
"It's powerful, it's strengthening, and the water is going to be a big problem," said Ken Graham, director of the National Hurricane Center.
Hurricane Katrina caused catastrophic floods in New Orleans in 2005 and reportedly caused more than 1,800 deaths in Louisiana and in other states, according to some estimates.
After Katrina, the Army Corps of Engineers has put in place a multibillion-dollar hurricane protection system that is not complete. The work included repairing and upgrading some 350 miles of dikes and more than 70 pumping stations used to remove floodwaters.
President Trump has already declared the state of emergency in Louisiana, allowing relief efforts by the federal government. In addition, about 10,000 people from Plaquemines Parish, at the extreme southeastern tip of Louisiana, were evacuated on Thursday.
New Orleans is particularly vulnerable to flooding because of its low altitude. Only about half of the city is above sea level – a drop from what was once 100%, according to the Atlantic, which cites human activity as the main reason for the decline.
The sky is cloudy as above Lake Pontchartrain on Lakeshore Drive, few floods have been reported in New Orleans, in front of Tropical Storm Barry that will touch the ground on Saturday, July 13, 2019. (AP Photo / Matthew Hinton)
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Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwards warned that the impact of the storm, associated with the already-high Mississippi River – swollen by heavy rains and snowmelt upstream this spring – could be a combination dangerous.
"Louisiana can flood three ways: storm surge, high rivers and rain," Edwards said. "We are going to have all three."
Paulina Dedaj, Madeline Farber and Fox News Associated Press contributed to this report.
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