Record-breaking Tropical Storm Cristobal makes landfall lashing Louisiana coast with rain and high winds
THE record-breaking Tropical Storm Cristobal is set to lash the Louisiana coast with rain and high winds as it advances towards the US.
The storm has slowed its advance through the Gulf of and the coastal storm surge, high winds and rain are expected to drench southeast parts of the state.
After the landfall later today, Cristobel will travel north, drenching , and the mid-to upper Valley with wind and rain after flooding was reported by state police.
"Flooding rain, storm surge and gusty winds will continue along the Gulf Coast into Monday," warned the .
On Sunday, even oil companies evacuated 188 Gulf of Mexico offshore facilities, shuttering some 635,000 barrels per day of oil and 878 million cubic feet per day of natural gas output, reported.
The stormed moved between the mouth of the Mississippi River and the barrier island resort community of Grand Isle, which was evacuated.
Residents of waterside communities outside the New Orleans levee system were urged to get out on Sunday afternoon as the storm surge approached.
After it flooded regions of Mexico last week, Cristobal packed top sustained winds of 50 miles per hour winds nearing the coast but wasn't expected to become a hurricane.
Forecasters did warn it would affect many people as it stretched roughly 180 miles.
Senator John Kennedy said President Donald Trump agreed to issue an emergency declaration for Louisiana as the storm approached the coast.
Gov. John Bel Edwards had previously issued a state emergency declaration Thursday.
In Florida, the second tornado in two days touched down about 3:35 p.m. south of Lake City near Interstate 75, said meteorologist Kirsten Chaney in the weather service’s Jacksonville office.
It splintered and uprooted trees and downed power lines but there were no injuries.
The storm was centered about 65 miles south of New Orleans at about 4pm local time, moving north at 7 mph.
With the landfall looming in Louisiana, the National Hurricane Center warned it would stretch from Intracoastal City in Louisiana to the Okaloosa-Walton County line in Florida,
Some parts of Louisiana and Mississippi were in danger of as much as a foot of rain, forecasters said, with terrifying storm surges of up to five feet.
“It’s very efficient, very tropical rainfall,” National Hurricane Center Director Ken Graham said in a Facebook video. “It rains a whole bunch real quick.”
The Sewerage & Water Board of New Orleans urged residents to avoid underpasses and low-lying areas where water can pool during inevitable street flooding, citing the city’s limited and aging street drainage system.
The Louisiana National Guard had dozens of high-water vehicles and rescue boats ready to go across southern parts of the state that were vulnerable.
Three teams of engineers helped to assess potential infrastructure failures, the Guard said in a news release.
Down in Biloxi, Mississippi, a pier was nearly submerged earlier this morning.
Squalls reached the mouth of the Mississippi River and conditions were expected to deteriorate further, according to the hurricane center in Miami.
In the New Orleans suburb of Jefferson Parish, there voluntary evacuations of Jean Lafitte, Lower Lafitte, Crown Point and Barataria continued on Saturday as a result of the storm threat.
The risk of high tides and heavy rain prompted residents to move vehicles, boats and campers to higher ground as Cristobel approached.
The storm has already pummeled parts of Mexico and last week, residents or holiday makers in in coastal areas from , , to were urged to closely watch its progression.