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Weakened Barry Rolls into Louisiana, Drenches Gulf Coast

Associated Press

   NEW ORLEANS - Barry rolled into the Louisiana coast Saturday, flooding
   highways, forcing people to scramble to rooftops and dumping heavy rain
   that officials had feared could test the levees and pumps that were
   bolstered after Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans in 2005.

   After briefly becoming a Category 1 hurricane, the system weakened to a
   tropical storm as it made landfall near Intracoastal City, about 160
   miles (257km) west of New Orleans, with its winds falling to 70 mph
   (112km), the National Hurricane Center said.

   By early evening, New Orleans had been spared the worst effects,
   receiving only light showers and gusty winds. But officials warned that
   Barry could still cause disastrous flooding across a wide stretch of
   the Gulf Coast and drop up to 20 inches (50 cm) of rain through Sunday
   across a part of Louisiana that includes New Orleans and Baton Rouge.

   "This is just the beginning," Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards said.
   "It's going to be a long several days for our state."

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