Tropical storm knocks out power to thousands

Associated Press

JEAN LAFITTE, La.

Bands of heavy rain and strong wind gusts from Tropical Storm Lee knocked out power to thousands in Louisiana and Mississippi on Saturday and prompted evacuations in bayou towns such as Jean Lafitte, where water was lapping at the front doors of some homes.

The sluggish storm stalled just offshore for several hours before resuming its slow march northward late in the afternoon. Landfall was expected later in the day, and the storm threatened to dump more than a foot of rain across the Gulf Coast and into the Southeast in coming days. No injuries were reported, but there were scattered instances of water entering low-lying homes and businesses in Louisiana.

To the east, coffers were suffering at many coastal businesses that depend on a strong Labor Day weekend. Alabama beaches that normally would be packed were largely empty, and rough seas closed the Port of Mobile. Mississippi’s coastal casinos, however, were open and reporting brisk business.

In Jean Laffite, water was a foot deep under Eva Alexie’s house, which is raised about 8 feet off the flat ground.

“I should be used to this,” said Alexie, a 76-year-old storm veteran who lost a home to Hurricane Ike in 2008. “It happens pretty often. I just thank God it won’t be getting in my house this time.”

She clutched an umbrella and a pair of blue, rubber gloves as she walked down Louisiana Highway 45, on her way to her husband’s shrimp boat to clean a recent catch.

The center of the slow-moving storm was about 55 miles south-southwest of Lafayette, La., on Saturday evening, spinning intermittent bands of stormy weather, alternating with light rain and occasional sunshine.

It was moving north-northwest at about 4 mph in the late afternoon.

Its maximum sustained winds dropped to 50 mph, and their intensity was expected to decrease further by today. Tropical-storm warnings stretched from the Louisiana-Texas state line to Destin, Fla.

The National Weather Service in Slidell said parts of New Orleans received between 6 and 8 inches of rain between Thursday morning and Saturday afternoon, and that coastal Mississippi points reported more than 6 inches.

Officials in some suburban and rural areas of southeast Louisiana reported more than 10 inches.

Forecasts said that isolated areas could get as many as 20 inches.