BATON ROUGE — Gov. John Bel Edwards urges Louisianans in South Louisiana to be ready to shelter in place by 8 p.m. Saturday as Tropical Storm Nate is expected to make landfall early Sunday.
It’s expected to become a hurricane before it makes landfall. Edwards warned that it could intensify rapidly.
The governor has declared a state of emergency for Louisiana, and he will request that President Trump approve a pre-landfall state of emergency.
Three to six inches of rain are expected, as well as storm surges of four-six feet.
The storm is moving quickly, but that doesn’t mean that localized flooding isn’t a concern. Heavy rains for even a short period of time can cause localized flooding and standing water on streets.
Edwards said Nate, now a tropical storm, has already killed 17 people in Nicaragua and Honduras.
“Go ask the people down in St. John what a Category 1 storm can do,” Edwards said, referencing the flooding and damage caused by Hurricane Isaac in 2012.
“Everyone must pay close attention,” Edwards said. “You need to be where you want to be by dark on Saturday.”
He said Louisiana National Guardsmen will be stationed at the pumps in New Orleans so the city can have real-time updates on the operating status of all pumps.
“This is a fairly standard mission to assist the folks in New Orleans,” he said.
Current models show the cone extending from the edge of Vermilion Parish on the western side of the storm to the Alabama-Florida line on the eastern side of the storm.
Check back with WGNO.com for updates as the storm moves into the Gulf.
Watch the full update from the governor here:
