MidnightWatcher – Prophecy in Motion

“NEW ORLEANS – Around 6,000 people from Jefferson Parish in New Orleans were evacuated Saturday as Tropical Storm Lee began to pelt the Gulf Coast.

Bands of heavy rain and strong wind gusts knocked out power to thousands in south Louisiana and Mississippi and prompted evacuations in bayou towns like Jean Lafitte, where water lapped at several front doors along the main highway.

The sluggish storm stalled just before making landfall, and threatened to dump more than a foot of rain across the northern Gulf Coast and into the Southeast in coming days. No injuries were reported and there were only scattered reports of water entering low-lying homes and businesses.

The center of the slow-moving storm was about 45 southwest of Morgan City, La., Saturday afternoon, spinning intermittent bands of stormy weather, alternating with light rain and occasional sunshine. Its maximum sustained winds were 60 mph.

The National Weather Service in Slidell reported two-day rain totals approaching 9 inches in parts of south Louisiana and more than 5 inches near the Mississippi coast.

It was expected to cross the Louisiana coast Saturday and meander through the state’s southern parishes through Sunday.

Tropical storm warning flags were flying from Alabama to Texas and flash flood warnings extended along the Alabama coast into the Florida Panhandle.” Read more.