Sign that the main city of Louisiana, located up to five meters below sea level, no longer feared torrential rains from Barry: its flood protection department began on Saturday evening to remove the removable portions of the surrounding dikes part of the city.
And the Mississippi River – the largest river in North America – flowing through the city began to decline. It remains close to its flood level which it has already crossed several times since the start of the year.
Mayor LaToya Cantrell tweeted Sunday morning that the alerts related to the passage of a tropical storm and the risk of coastal submersion had been lifted, but that the surveillance of possible sudden floods remained in place until 7:00 pm because ten centimeters of rain are still expected.
Storm – hurricane – storm
If the coasts of Louisiana seemed to be relatively out of business on Sunday morning despite the invasive waters in places, meteorologists warned of the persistent and “potentially fatal” risk of sudden floods and overflows of watercourses in a part of Louisiana and in the neighboring state of Mississippi.
The tropical storm rose just a few hours Saturday afternoon in Hurricane Category 1 with winds at 120 km / h. The first hurricane of the Atlantic season from June to November, it made landfall at midday on Saturday.
But it should be downgraded to a tropical depression on Sunday, the National Hurricane Center said in its 12h00 GMT newsletter, adding that it was blowing at 75 km / h. He said the core of the storm is expected to slide over Arkansas in the evening and Monday, noting that the Mississippi Valley remains vulnerable to flooding.
Evacuating
Louisiana remains marked by Hurricane Katrina in 2005, which killed more than 1,800 people, including more than a thousand in New Orleans, 80% flooded when the dikes protecting the city had failed.
As a precaution, thousands of people have been evacuated, in particular from the coast. The State National Guard pre-disposed 3,800 men and the America’s Cajun Navy lifeguard organization disposed of 86 rescue boats in the area.
New Orleans Airport was gradually brought back to life on Sunday after all flights canceled the day before. Electricity supplier Entergy, which mobilized 3,400 employees, said that at 6:30 p.m. Saturday, 63,500 customers were out of power across Louisiana.
President Donald Trump had placed Louisiana on Thursday in an emergency to allow federal agencies to participate in the rescue. He urged people affected by Barry to “be very careful”.
Outstanding dikes
The winds tore off tree branches, road signs. In St John’s County near New Orleans, local television showed some places under almost 60 cm of water.
According to media reports, several dikes were overtaken by rising sea levels, particularly in the coastal county of Plaquemines, south of New Orleans, where rivers overflowed as in the coastal county of Terrebonne. Mandatory evacuations were ordered there.
The small coastal town of Morgan City, about 140 km southwest of New Orleans and one of the first affected by Barry, was without power on Saturday and the Atchafalaya River was out of bed.
Barry raised serious concerns, particularly since Louisiana’s soil was already saturated before its arrival after recent thunderstorms and significant rainfall since the beginning of the year.
ATS source
Source link
https://www.radiolac.ch/actualite/intemperies/alerte-rouge-pour-la-tempete-britannique/
