Tropical Storm Cindy Is Heading For Land, And New Orleans Residents Are Bracing For Potential Flooding
Meteorologists tracking Tropical Storm Cindy are working hard to educate those who will feel the impact. This is a disorganized tropical storm that doesn’t look like what Gulf Coast residents are used to seeing on the weather maps. The eye is formed and headed for Southeast Louisiana or Southwest Texas. It sounds like New Orleans dodged a bullet, right? Not so fast.
The eye of the storm is currently in the Gulf of Mexico and a couple of hundred miles south of Morgan City, Louisiana, slowly headed north. Tropical Storm Cindy is expected to curve to the left towards the Texas -Louisiana line as it makes landfall. The bands of wind and rain that are connected to this storm aren’t tightly organized, but they cover a large area. Because the storm is spinning to the west (clockwise), it will be pushing water to the east of the eye of the storm.
The warnings have been issued for the Gulf Coast residents from Texas to Florida. Tropical Storm Cindy is coming and now is the time to prepare. According to the National Weather Service, all of southern Louisiana will be impacted by localized flooding at a minimum.
At this time, the state of Louisiana has not declared a state of emergency, but several of the coastal parishes have. What does this mean for residents? They are able to go to predetermined locations for sandbags to protect their homes and businesses. Residents of those parishes know that if things get bad, there is the potential for curfews to be issued in the area for their safety.
New Orleans, as in all of Southern Louisiana, is prepared with pumps to help get the water out, and there are floodgates and a levee system. Of course, Tropical Storm Cindy is a slow-moving storm. That is bad news for those in the expected flood zone. A slow-moving rainstorm means the pumps won’t be able to keep up. There will be more water coming than they can handle.
Residents of New Orleans know all too well how to prepare for a natural disaster. Making the decision to live in a coastal community also means learning how to be self-sufficient. Though there are emergency responders that should come if there has been no evacuation order issued, residents know they still remain on their own until the responders can travel safely.
With the Weather Channel broadcasting from New Orleans, residents of Southern Louisiana are paying attention to Tropical Storm Cindy. She is expected to bring rainfall as high at 12 inches in parts of the Gulf Coast. With New Orleans being below sea level, it could only take a fraction of the possible rain predictions to cause major damage and bring the city to a stop.
[Featured Image by Getty Images/Mario Tama]
