Louisiana is taking a collective sigh of relief as Hurricane Ike moves into the Gulf of Mexico and heads for Texas.Ike is projected to make landfall in Texas early Saturday morning as a Category 3 storm and bring rain and wind gusts to Louisiana.The storm is moving northwest at 8 mph said Barry Keim, Louisiana state climatologist.A Louisiana landfall looks most unlikely from the perspective of right now,” Keim said. “There still could be some minor impacts in the state.”Rain could start to move into southern Louisiana today and last until Saturday, Keim said. Ike may bring “gusty” winds, Keim said.Jay Grymes, University Agricultural Center climatologist, said forecasts suggest southwestern Louisiana could see “lower tropical storm force winds.” Kristine Calongne, Emergency Operations Center member and University spokeswoman, said the EOC will stay activated to deal with the aftermath of Hurricane Gustav while watching Ike. “Safety and being cautious is our utmost concern, so we’re going to stay activated until we know for sure,” Calongne said.
—-
Contact Lindsey Meaux at [email protected]