Sunday, 12:40 p.m. — NEW ORLEANS, La. (AP) — The center of Tropical Storm Lee made landfall Sunday on the Louisiana coast, bringing up to a foot of rain, spinoff tornadoes and fears of inland flash flooding to the Deep South and beyond.
The vast, soggy storm system spent hours during the weekend hovering in the northernmost Gulf of Mexico. Its slow crawl to the north gave more time for its drenching rain bands to pelt a wide swath of vulnerable coastline, raising the flood threat.
By Sunday, at least 6 to 10 inches of rain had fallen in some spots along the Louisiana and Mississippi coasts, and the National Weather Service warned there was a threat of extensive flooding and flash floods because of the storm’s slow, meandering jog inland.
The rain bands were expected to head northward into the Tennessee Valley later in the week as forecasters warned that 10 to 15 inches of rain were possible along the central Gulf Coast and up to 20 inches in isolated spots.
National Hurricane Center specialist Robbie Berg said the flash flood threat could be more severe as the rains moves from the flatter Gulf region north into the rugged Appalachians.
Closer to the Gulf, the water is “just going to sit there a couple of days,” he said. “Up in the Appalachians you get more threat of flash floods — so that’s very similar to some of the stuff we saw in Vermont.”
Vermont is still cleaning up and digging out dozens of communities that were damaged and isolated by heavy rain from Hurricane Irene last week that quickly overfilled mountain rivers.
At midday Sunday, there were scattered tornado warnings for spinoff twisters from Lee.
Lynn Burse, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Jackson, says the possible twister hit Lamar County, Miss., Sunday morning. No injuries or major damage was reported. Burse said drier air pivoting behind the system could increase the risk for tornados.
A possible tornado struck southern Mobile County in Alabama, snapping oak limbs, knocking out power and damaging at least one home. No injuries were reported, but the blast awoke Frank Ledbetter and ripped up the sign for his art gallery.
“It just got louder and louder and louder. I woke my wife up and said, ‘It’s a tornado.’ We just dove into the closet in the bedroom,” he said. “It was crazy.”
Joe Zirlott was working the overnight shift at a Citgo Speedy Mart in the Bayley’s Corner community when trash cans started flying, a sign blew away, the front door popped open and the lights went out.
“Everything got real hairy for about 10 minutes, then it eased up a little,” he said.
Even before Lee swept ashore, there were scattered instances of water entering low-lying homes and businesses in Louisiana’s bayou country — a region of fast-eroding wetlands long vulnerable to hurricanes and tropical storms. The storm prompted evacuations in bayou towns such as Jean Lafitte. Thousands were without power.
Late Saturday, lifelong Jean Lafitte resident Brad Zinet was riding out the storm in his mobile home mounted on pilings. He was hoping it wouldn’t take on water.
“We got nowhere to go. We’re just getting everything put up out of the way and hope for the best,” said the 31-year-old plumber.
“This is a way of life around here,” he added. “You just do the best you can and ride it out.”
A week after Irene caused massive flooding and claimed at least 46 lives as it barreled up the East Coast, President Barack Obama was heading to northern New Jersey later Sunday for a first-hand look at the damage while keeping an eye on Lee.
The president was to visit Paterson, N.J., where the Passaic River swept through the once-booming factory town of 150,000, flooded its downtown and forced hundreds to evacuate.
At 11 a.m. EDT, the National Hurricane Center in Miami said Lee’s center was about 45 miles west of Morgan City. Maximum sustained winds were 45 mph  as the storm headed to the north at 3 mph.
Tropical storm warnings stretched from near the Louisiana-Texas state line to Destin, Fla.
To the east, coastal businesses were suffering. Alabama beaches that would normally be packed for the Labor Day holiday were largely empty, and rough seas closed the Port of Mobile. Mississippi’s coastal casinos, however, were open and reporting brisk business.
In New Orleans, sporadic downpours caused some street flooding Saturday, but pumps were sucking up the water and sending it into Lake Pontchartrain. Officials said the levees were doing their job in the city that is still recovering from the deadly Hurricane Katrina a half decade ago.
New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu warned residents not to let their guard down, saying: “We’re not out of the woods. Don’t go to sleep on this storm.”
In Mississippi, Harrison County officials said travel on U.S. Highway 90 had become hazardous because winds from Lee have pushed sand from beach onto the eastbound lanes and the rain has created a situation where drivers cannot see the roadway.
“This layer of sand has gotten up on the highway and you can’t determine if you’re on the road, up on the median or the curb,” said emergency director Rupert Lacy.
Flooding in Hancock County left several roadways impassable, and the rain on parts of Interstate 10 at times has been so heavy that visibility was down to only a few feet.
Wet and windy conditions hovered over Alabama’s Dauphin Island, a barrier island in the Gulf, but conditions weren’t too threatening, Mayor Jeff Collier said. High surf caused some roads to flood, but all were still passable Saturday afternoon.
Precautions were taken to secure anything that could be swept away by wind or waves, and Labor Day concerts and other festivities were canceled.
“The weekend is literally a wash,” Collier said. “It’s really a shame that it happened on a holiday weekend.”
Elsewhere, the National Hurricane Center said Hurricane Katia was trekking across open ocean about 365 miles northeast of the Northern Leeward Islands. No coastal watches or warnings were in effect with the storm so far out to sea.
The center said Katia had top sustained winds of 75 mph and was moving at 12 mph with little change in recent hours.
 
 
Friday, 1:06 p.m. —The National Weather Service upgraded tropical depression 13 into Tropical Storm at 1 p.m. CDT.
Lee has sustained winds of 40 miles per hour, according to an NWS bulletin. The storm is located about 210 miles southwest of the mouth of the Mississippi River and 200 miles southeast of Cameron, La.
A tropical storm warning is in effect for the next 24 hours from Pascagoula, Miss., to Sabine Pass, Texas. Much of this area is already seeing rain produced by Tropical Storm Lee.
Tropical Storm Lee is currently forecasted to make landfall some time Saturday night or early Sunday morning.
Expected rainfall is between 10 and 15 inches with isolated areas receiving as much as 20 inches.
Tropical storm force winds extend out about 200 miles from Lee’s center.
For all the latest updates on Tropical Storm Lee, check lsureveille.com.
 
 
Thursday night — NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Areas along the Gulf coast could get up to 20 inches of rain from a system that could blow into tropical storm strength, leading Louisiana’s governor to declare a state of emergency Thursday because of the threat of serious flash flooding.
Tropical storm warnings are out for the Gulf coast from Mississippi to Texas. The National Hurricane Center said the system that is now a depression in the Gulf of Mexico will dump 10 to 15 inches of rain over southern areas of Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama through Sunday and as much as 20 inches in some spots.
As for Katia (KAH’-tee-yah) in the Atlantic, it weakened from a hurricane to a tropical storm, though forecasters say it will again grow stronger. It was about 930 miles (1497 kilometers) east of the Leeward Islands and moving west near 18 mph (30 kph) with maximum sustained winds Thursday evening near 70 mph (113 kph), a 5 mph decrease. It could become a major hurricane this weekend.
The U.S. National Hurricane Center said it’s too early to tell if Katia will hit the U.S. It is expected to pass north of the Caribbean.
In the Gulf, the declaration by Gov. Bobby Jindal allows him to activate the National Guard to help and lets the state homeland security office to take whatever action is necessary. In the state’s low-lying Lafourche Parish, president Charlotte Randolph also declared a state of emergency, saying coastal areas there might get up to 18 inches of rain through Monday.
The depression has sustained winds of 35 mph and was moving toward the northwest at about 6 mph. On this track, the center of the depression should approach the Louisiana coast on Saturday. Forecasters say it could strengthen into a tropical storm.
Tropical storm warnings are out from Pascagoula, Miss., to the Texas state line.
It was still unclear where the system would head next, but it could bring much-needed relief to drought-plagued Texas.
The Gulf system already has forced two major petroleum producers to remove crews from a handful of production platforms. Royal Dutch Shell and ExxonMobil said they would also cut off a small amount of production. Both moves affect only a fraction of production.
In yet another system, the hurricane center said a slow-moving low pressure system about 360 miles (579 kilometers) north of Bermuda stood a 50 percent chance in the next two days of becoming a tropical cyclone, the first step toward a tropical storm.
 
____
Contact The Daily Reveille’s news staff at [email protected]