The Latest on Tropical Storm Barry (all times local):
8:05 a.m.
National Hurricane Center Ken Graham said Tropical Storm Barry is gathering “a big slough of moisture” just off the central Louisiana coast and is taking its time to come ashore Saturday morning, meaning “a lot of rain is on the way.”
Graham delivered a storm update using Facebook Live from the hurricane center, where he pointed to a computer screen showing a big swirling mess of airborne water. “That is just an amazing amount of moisture,” he said. “That is off the chart.”
He said the storm is moving so slowly that heavy rain will likely continue throughout the weekend across Louisiana. He said the highest tornado threat is on the east side of the storm, along the Mississippi coast, and Mobile Bay. And the Mississippi River isn’t the only waterway to worry about: He says other rivers and creeks will be overflowing across several states.
Graham reminded viewers that “83 percent of fatalities from these systems have been from inland rain. So let’s stay off the roads. Let’s prevent these preventable fatalities.”
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7:30 a.m.
The Coast Guard says it is in the process of rescuing more than a dozen people stranded on a remote Louisiana island by flooding from Tropical Storm Barry.
Petty Officer Lexie Preston said some of the people were on rooftops Saturday on the Isle de Jean Charles, about 45 miles (72 kilometers) south of New Orleans.
Preston told The Associated Press the rescue is ongoing and four people and a cat have been taken from the island on a helicopter. She said a boat is also heading to the area to help get the rest of the people off the island.
Preston says she does not know the condition of the people rescued.
Terrebonne Parrish placed the island under a voluntary evacuation and the only two-lane road to it was cut off by floodwaters.
The island is the home of the Isle de Jean Charles Band of Biloxi-Chitimacha-Choctaw Tribe and is part of the southern Louisiana bayous threatened by rising sea levels.
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7 a.m.
Tropical Storm Barry is strengthening as it approaches the Louisiana coast.
The U.S. National Hurricane Center said in its 8 a.m. Saturday advisory that the storm’s maximum sustained winds have increased 5 mph over the past several hours to 70 mph (115 kph), with higher gusts.
Barry is expected to reach hurricane strength by the time its center reaches the Louisiana coast, expected before noon local time. The storm is expected to weaken after it moves inland.
The storm is moving northwest at about 5 mph (7 kph), and a turn to the north is expected late Saturday or early Sunday.
Weather forecasters say Barry could dump between 10 and 20 inches of rain over south-central and southeast Louisiana and southwest Mississippi.
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5:35 a.m.
The city closest to where Tropical Storm Barry is predicted to make landfall is already seeing power outages.
Some Louisiana parishes around Morgan City were reporting more than half their customers without electricity around daybreak Saturday.
A long day in Morgan City started with on and off rain. People were using cellphones to see in the dark and opening doors and windows to let the warm, sticky tropical air circulate.
Barry’s center is expected to slowly move onshore near Morgan City later Saturday.
East of Morgan City in New Orleans, only scattered showers and a light breeze stirred up the famous French Quarter. But forecasters warned that heavy rains and possible flooding were coming within hours.
In the New Orleans suburbs, the storm’s approach filled Lake Pontchartrain 3 feet (1 meter) above typical levels. Winds pushed water onto streets on the north side of the lake near Mandeville.
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4:45 a.m.
Tropical Storm Barry cut short a predominantly black sorority’s convention, but meals left over from the conference will help feed tens of thousands of people in Louisiana.
Second Harvest Food Bank spokesman Jay Vise says a caterer had more than 17,000 uneaten meals after the storm caused Delta Sigma Theta Sorority to end its New Orleans convention a day early.
Vice says Second Harvest was able to get a truck and take the meals back to its headquarters Friday.
Vice told The Times-Picayune/The New Orleans Advocate the meals will be put in a freezer until the storm passes Monday, and then delivered throughout southern Louisiana.
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4:10 a.m.
Nearly 50,000 people are without power as Tropical Storm Barry nears landfall on Louisiana’s south-central coast.
According to Entergy Louisiana’s outages map, more than 45,800 people had been affected by power outages as of 4:11 a.m. Saturday. Nearly a fourth of those outages were in coastal Terrebonne Parish. A number of other southern parishes were affected, including Jefferson Parish outside of New Orleans.
Those parishes were east of Morgan City, where Barry is expected to make landfall as a hurricane later Saturday morning. A 4 a.m. Saturday advisory from the U.S. National Hurricane Center said Barry was around 55 miles (90 kilometers) southwest of Morgan City.
The utility serving the area west of Morgan City, Cleco Power, indicated more than 3,000 people had been affected by power outages as of 4:15 a.m.
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3:50 a.m.
Tropical Storm Barry continues to move toward the Louisiana coast as forecasters expect it to make landfall as a hurricane.
A 4 a.m. Saturday advisory from the U.S. National Hurricane Center said Barry was around 55 miles (90 kilometers) southwest of Morgan City, near where it’s expected to make landfall later Saturday morning. The agency said rainbands had begun to move onshore, with storm surge, heavy rains and wind expected across the north-central Gulf coast.
According to the advisory, the storm is expected to move northward through the Mississippi Valley through Sunday night, although steady weakening is expected as it moves inland from the south-central coast. The edges of the storm have already started lashing Louisiana with rain and left some coastal roads underwater.
The storm was 165 miles (260 kilometers) west of the mouth of the Mississippi River, with maximum sustained winds of 65 mph (105 kph) and higher gusts.
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3:05 a.m.
A federal judge has issued a temporary restraining order barring Iberville Parish from deploying AquaDams that East Baton Rouge Parish says could increase flooding within its own borders.
Late Friday and hours before Tropical Storm Barry was expected to make landfall on the southern Louisiana coast, a judge ruled that the water-filled flood control barriers could cause substantial property damage and loss of life in the neighboring parish.
Iberville Parish President Mitch Ourso had planned to erect the AquaDams along Bayou Manchac, to prevent flooding in the Spanish Lake area. East Baton Rouge Parish Mayor-President Sharon Weston Broome told The Advocate she didn’t want to sue but had heard from worried constituents.
Ourso told WBRZ-TV he would abide by the ruling.
The judge set a hearing for Monday afternoon.
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2:15 a.m.
More than 30,000 people have lost power in Louisiana as Tropical Storm Barry moves closer to landfall on the south-central coast.
According to Entergy Louisiana’s outages map, more than 29,000 customers had been affected by power outages as of 2:11 a.m., local time, Saturday. The biggest outages were in Jefferson, Lafourche, Assumption and Terrebone parishes, all located in southern Louisiana.
The parishes are east of Morgan City, where Barry is expected to make landfall as a hurricane later Saturday morning.
The utility serving the area around and west of Morgan City, Cleco Power, indicated more than 3,000 people had been affected by power outages as of 2:10 a.m.
The outages coincided with National Weather Service-issued tornado warnings for three parishes bordering Jefferson Parish to the west, near New Orleans. The warnings expired at 2:15 after the storm moved out of the area.
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2 a.m.
The National Weather Service has again extended tornado warnings in the New Orleans area as Tropical Storm Barry moves toward the southern Louisiana coast.
The latest bulletin Saturday morning moved the tornado warnings north, from northwestern Plaquemines Parish and southwestern St. Bernard Parish to northwestern St. Bernard Parish and central Orleans Parish.
The agency said a “severe thunderstorm capable of producing a tornado” was located east of Chalmette, moving north at 50 mph (80 kph). The updated bulletin said the storm would near New Orleans around 2:15 a.m. local time.
Residents were advised to take cover immediately. The agency said pea-sized hail could accompany the winds.
Barry is expected to make landfall near Morgan City later Saturday morning.
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1:40 a.m.
As Tropical Storm Barry inches toward the southern Louisiana coast, a severe thunderstorm capable of producing tornadoes is moving toward New Orleans.
The National Weather Service issued a bulletin extending tornado warnings for St. Bernard Parish and Plaquemines Parish early Saturday.
The original bulletin said a severe thunderstorm capable of producing a tornado was located over Port Sulphur in Plaquemines Parish, moving north at 50 mph. An update 15 minutes later said the thunderstorm would near New Orleans near 2 a.m. local time.
Residents were advised to take cover immediately. The agency said pea-sized hail could accompany the winds.
Barry is expected to make landfall near Morgan City later Saturday morning.
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1:25 a.m.
The National Weather Service has issued tornado warnings for parishes in the New Orleans area as Tropical Storm Barry approaches the southern Louisiana coast.
The agency issued tornado warnings for southwestern St. Bernard Parish and northwestern Plaquemines Parish early Saturday. A bulletin said a severe thunderstorm capable of producing a tornado was located over Port Sulphur in Plaquemines Parish, moving north at 50 mph. The bulletin said winds could be accompanied by pea-sized hail.
Residents were advised to take cover immediately. The advisory was in effect until 1:30 a.m., local time.
Barry is expected to make landfall later Saturday morning near Morgan City.
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1:10 a.m.
Tropical Storm Barry continued to inch toward the Louisiana coast as forecasters expect it to make landfall as a hurricane.
An early Saturday advisory from the U.S. National Hurricane Center said Barry was around 70 miles (115 kilometers) south of Morgan City, near where it’s expected to make landfall later Saturday morning.
According to the advisory, the storm is expected to move northward through the Mississippi Valley through Sunday night, although steady weakening is expected as it moves inland from the south-central coast. The edges of the storm have already started lashing Louisiana with rain and left some coastal roads underwater.
The storm is currently 125 miles (200 kilometers) west of the mouth of the Mississippi River, with maximum sustained winds of 65 mph (105 kph) and higher gusts.
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11:35 p.m.
People have boarded up buildings and braced for a strengthening Tropical Storm Barry that threatened millions as it churned a path ashore.
The storm is testing efforts to guard against flooding since Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans 14 years ago.
Officials predicted Barry would make landfall Saturday morning near Morgan City as the first hurricane of the season.
The edges of the storm have already started lashing Louisiana with rain and left some coastal roads underwater.
But late Friday night, residents received good news from forecasters. Experts predict the Mississippi River will crest in New Orleans at about 17.1 feet (5.2 meters), not 19 feet (5.8 meters) as had been earlier predicted.
The levees protecting the city range from about 20 to 25 feet (6 to 7.5 meters) in height.
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For the latest on Tropical Storm Barry, visit https://apnews.com/Hurricanes .
