Tropical Storm Lee makes mark with rain, wind
Posted Sep 4, 2011 05:13:42 AM.
This article is more than 5 years old.
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 like 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. 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 would normally 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 eight 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.”
In New Orleans, sporadic downpours caused some street flooding in low-lying areas early Saturday, but pumps were sucking up the water and sending it into Lake Pontchartrain.
New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu warned residents not to let their guard down, saying: “We’re not out of the woods. Don’t go to sleep on this storm.”
