A hurricane warning was in effect Thursday as Tropical Storm Barry, threatening as much as 20 inches of rain and dangerous storm surges, headed for a likely Friday night collision with the Louisiana coast.
The National Hurricane Center said Barry was creeping along at 5 mph on a track that would take it over the central or southeastern coast of Louisiana late Friday or early Saturday, then move it into the lower Mississippi Valley on Sunday.
Forecasters said the storm’s slow movement would mean rain would remain over the coast for an unusually long time, resulting in a threat of severe flooding along the entire central coast of the Gulf of Mexico and well inland into early next week.
President Donald Trump declared an emergency in Louisiana on Thursday night, authorizing the Federal Emergency Management Agency to coordinate disaster relief efforts.
The hurricane center said flooding from Barry carried the potential for “devastating impacts across southeast Louisiana and southern Mississippi,” and storm surge watches and warnings were in effect for much of the Gulf Coast from Alabama to the western Louisiana coast. Storm surges are life-threatening inundations of rising water moving inland.
We in New Orleans are preparing for a “what if the power goes out Shabbos” and praying that the electricity stays on so food doesn’t spoil. We are used to power outages during heavy rain and wind and so far Barry doesn’t seem to be a very strong threat although we do take serious precautions such as stocking up on batterties and following the news. From Katrina we learned what we need to always be ready for possiblee emergencies. Erev Shabbos and Erev Yom Tov the hardest thing is being cut off from current news but somehow we manage. Hopefully… Read more »