Latest on Tropical Storm Barry: (updated at 7:00 am Saturday, July 13)
Barry's winds are up now to 70 mph and the pressure has dropped slightly and is now on the verge of becoming a hurricane. The Storm is still creeping along at 5 mph.
Saturday - July 13 - 4:00 am
Barry's intensity remains the same on Saturday morning, but is still expected to strengthen before landfall. The track has shifted a little west along the Iberia Parish/Vermilion Parish border with landfall is likely still happening in the morning hours of Saturday, July 13. Talking points remain largely the same.
Friday, July 12 - 11:30 pm
Sustained Winds: 65 mph
Gusts: 75 mph
Movement: WNW at 3 mph
Pressure: 993 mb
Location: 75 miles to the SE of Morgan City
With the 10PM update the National Hurricane Center nudged Barry's forecast track slightly to the west, with the center moving right over coastal St Mary Parish, Lydia/Cypremort Point, New Iberia, Lafayette, Oplouosas and Washington
They project Barry to make landfall as a category 1 hurricane (75 mph winds) near the coast of St. Mary Parish Saturday morning before it slides up into Iberia Parish and then right over Lafayette during the afternoon hours on Saturday. It will be moving slowly through Acadiana leading to flooding rainfalls east and on the southern flank of the center of circulation.
Hurricane warnings continue for Iberia, St. Mary, Lower St. Martin and Vermilion parishes, while tropical storm warnings remain up for the rest of Acadiana.
The big thing with Barry is that it is going to push through Acadiana in 2 waves.
First Barry will bring sustained winds between 40-55 mph with gusts as high as 65-75 mph, which is strong enough to knock down trees, power lines and blowing off tin roofs and shingles.
Following the winds heavy rains will then hammer Acadiana with the latest European model projecting all of Acadiana will receive about 10-20 inches of rain, with a few isolated spots getting as much as 25+ inches of rain.
This will cause widespread flooding beginning Saturday afternoon and will continue into Sunday before the rains start to lessen but river flooding will linger into the early part of next week as the water drains.
Storm surge warnings continue for the coasts of Iberia, St. Mary as water could come up as high as 3-6 feet.
Lastly this westerly shift in the track also puts more of Acadiana in the threat for a few spin-up tornadoes to develop in the tropical rain bands Saturday afternoon/evening.
What you should be doing tonight is making the final preparations around your house, moving all loose items inside or close to the house and then going to the place where you are going to ride out the storm.
Stay tune to KATC for the latest on Barry with live updates at the top of the hour every hour on air, on KATC's Facebook page, on www.katc.com/live and the KATC app and expect full conitnuous news coverage when the storm makes landfall through the entire weekend.
