This morning’s National Hurricane Center advisory shows that Tropical Storm Warnings are still in effect for San Luis Pass Texas to the Alabama-Florida border, Metro New Orleans and Lake Pontchartrain.
Cindy is currently about 165 miles (265 kilometers) south-southwest of Morgan City, Louisiana, moving toward the northwest at 8.0 mph (13 kilometers per hour). The minimum central pressure is 996 MB – 29.41 inches. Cindy’s northwest track is expected to continue through today, with a turn toward the north taking place this evening or early Thursday.
Maximum sustained winds with this tropical storm are now close to 60 mph (95 km/h) with occasional gusts. There should be little change in wind speed through the day, although a slight weakening is expected to take place on Thursday.
There have been numerous power outages in the Metro New Orleans area along with some local flooding. Lakeshore Drive in New Orleans is closed because of street flooding. The heavy rains and flood threats have forced the closing of many summer programs and day care centers.
In Mississippi, Gulfport-Biloxi Airport recorded 7.19 inches of rain in the last 24 hours, with almost 6 inches of it falling in the last 12 hours. The governors of all the Gulf states are putting their states in various levels of readiness with this storm because of the great potential for damaging and life-threatening flooding.
In Louisiana, emergency management officials from several parishes met on Tuesday to discuss preparations for the heavy rainfall expected to be the biggest threat for most in the path of the storm, according to the Weather Channel.
“We learned from last year’s floods that even unnamed storms can be devastating,” Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards said in a statement. And to that end, Louisiana appears to be ready for the worst Cindy can throw at the Bayou State while hoping for the best.
