A state of emergency has been declared in Louisiana by US President Donald Trump as a growing tropical storm is close to landfall. The storm, popularly known as Storm Barry, has in the last couple of days been gaining speed over the Gulf of Mexico. As per reports from officials, wind speeds have grown to 104km/h and may end up reaching the strength of a hurricane by the time it makes to landfall. With the strong winds, the City of New Orleans is expected to experience a storm surge and heavy rainfall. In the past few days, the city experienced thunderstorms and flash floods, a sign of what is set to come.
The National Weather Service has already warned about the impending danger that is expected to be brought about by flooding from the storm. “The slow movement of Barry will result in along duration of heavy rainfall and flood threat along the central Gulf, across portions of Mississippi Valley and north into the Tennessee Valley,’’ it said. The latest action taken by President Trump will go a long way in freeing up resources that can then be used to help the emergency situation. Storm Barry is expected to put into test the flood defenses that were improved after Hurricane Katrina witnessed in 2005.
Latest Information Concerning Storm Barry
As per latest reports from the National Weather Service, Storm Barry is crawling at speeds of 3mph towards Louisiana. The forecasters believe the storm will make a landfall by Saturday morning, before eventually weakening over the Lower Mississippi Valley. If the winds that come with Storm Barry exceed a speed of 74mph, then it will be declared as a hurricane making it the first of the 2019 Atlantic season. This will thus end up causing huge damages to both property and plants in Louisiana.
How Louisiana is Getting Ready for Storm Barry
Officials in Louisiana have already ordered thousands of residents living in low-lying areas to evacuate before things get worse. However, La Toya Cantrell, mayor of New Orleans has not issued a city-wide evacuation considering Storm Barry is not a category three hurricane or above. Despite this, residents have been told to prepare for the coming storm by stocking up on non-perishable food, drinking water and other emergency supplies.
In a Twitter post, President Trump said, “As you make preparations to protect your homes and loved ones from flooding & the coming storm it is imperative that you heed the directions of FEMA, together with state and local officials.” On the other hand, Governor John Bel Edwards described the incoming storm as ‘Very severe”. He even went ahead to site the National Hurricane Centre (NHC) warnings that the floods could end up being “life-threatening.” On Thursday, the governor said “this is going to be a major rain event across a huge portion of Louisiana. As residents continue to evacuate, they will wait and see how the flood defenses put in place are going to help.