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July 12, 2019

New Orleans Braces for More Flooding as Tropical Storm Barry Looms
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Louisiana has declared a state of emergency and ordered some Gulf Coast
communities to evacuate, as Tropical Storm Barry churns offshore in the
Gulf of Mexico ahead of its expected landfall Saturday as a Category 1
hurricane. The storm has flooded parts of Louisiana and threatens to
cause an already-engorged Mississippi River to overtop levees. The
river, which is usually at six to eight feet in midsummer, is now at 16
feet due to record flooding this year. New Orleans is only protected to
a river level of 20 feet. The National Weather Service expects the
Mississippi to approach that level today, marking one of the highest
river levels seen in the city in decades. Meanwhile, activists are
demanding the immediate evacuation of the more than 65,000 prisoners in
the path of the storm throughout Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas.


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