Tropical Storm in Louisiana and the Flood Threat

Tropical storm Lee hit the Southern Louisiana coast raising an alarm in the area. Citizens braced for what looked like a testing time for the city’s defenses which were rendered weak during Hurricane Katrina in 2005. The National Hurricane Center put the wind speed of the storm to 42 mph or 72 kph. Though the storm has already weakened to tropical depression as it nears Mississippi, forecasters believe that Lee still has a lot of power left in it and there can still be torrential downpour with 25 centimeters of rain to lash out over the Southern Appalachian Mountains.

Governor Bobby Jindal declared a state of emergency, and said flooding was Louisiana’s “primary concern”. The downpour had caused extensive street flooding in the weekend and the pumps in New Orleans did a good job taking in the water and diverting it to Lake Pontchartrain. The National Hurricane informed that Lee’s flash-flood threat could be harsher as the rain moves into the rugged Appalachians from the flatter Gulf region.

The citizens and the authorities seemed to have wizened up and were not taking any chances. The aforementioned Hurricane Katrina had struck in 2005 and had killed 1,500 people while recording the worst financial loss by a natural disaster in the US. New Orleans had become poorer by $80 billion due to the hurricane With the horrific past still in mind, the mayor Mitch Landrieu did not seem to take any chance. He said that the stormy either may continue for days, even though there were some sunny sells. He told the people not to take the situation lightly as he quoted, “Do not go to sleep on this storm.” In Louisiana, a lot of evacuations have been done, especially in the coastal communities. A staggering number of 8000 homes went without electricity.

In Louisiana, there was a brief shutdown of more than 60 per cent of coastal oil production. New Orleans, did a reasonably good job in managing to hold the storm, the municipal authorities were able to save face as the flood defenses worked in containing the floods, with the pumping system in place to suck up the water and divert it into Lake Pontchartrain.
Street flooding was reported in many areas of Louisiana, especially in parts of New Orleans and other areas that lie below se-level. However, the system of levees, flood gates and pumps were able to contain the troubled waters and work its drainage system effectively. Though the storm does seem to have subsided, Lee’s remnants can still bring in some flash floods and tornadoes to Mississippi on Monday, to Alabama and Tennessee on Tuesday, according to a hurricane center in Miami. There have been no injuries or deaths in Louisiana though there are reports of water entering into the homes and businesses in low-lying areas People were also angry that the weekend literally was washed away. Labor Day concerts and other festivities were cancelled and the beaches were an empty sight.