(USA Today) – Tropical Storm Barry, building strength as it churned through the heated waters of the Gulf of Mexico, was on track to hit the Louisiana coast early Saturday as a Category 1 hurricane, threatening to pack its biggest punch not with high winds but heavy rain and a dangerous storm surge. Across Louisiana, National Guard troops and rescue crews manned boats and high-water vehicles while utility repair crews with bucket trucks moved into position.
Homeowners sandbagged their property or packed up and left. “The real damage has never been about wind; it has always been about rain,” Gov. John Bel Edwards said Friday after a meeting with his command center team. Edwards said there are forecasts for 10 to 20 inches of rain over widespread areas and up to 25 inches in isolated areas. As of 7 p.m. CDT, Barry was 85 miles south-southeast of Morgan City, Louisiana, and was crawling through the Gulf of Mexico at 4 mph. READ MORE
