By Jon KopaloffPublished Mar 06, 2016 09:30:07Tornado-style winds in the Caribbean have created a massive wave of water over New Orleans and other areas, inundating homes, prompting evacuations and causing at least one death.
The National Weather Service issued a tornado watch for portions of New Orleans as it neared the city on Sunday, warning of potentially deadly wind gusts of 100 mph and potentially hazardous water over areas of New Bern and Jefferson Davis.
A storm surge watch was issued for the city.
New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu said the storm surge warnings are just the beginning of what the city is dealing with.
“The flooding is just going to be very, very severe.
The water is going to hit you,” Landrieuc said.
“It’s going to get to the roof of your house.
The floodwaters are going to make it hard for people to get into their homes.
We are looking at a very, really dangerous situation.”
Landrieu says the city will be closed until Friday because of the flood.
He says the storm will be a major concern for the area, especially for those who have been out of the water.
In an effort to help residents and tourists, Landrieue said the city has set up shelters at two downtown restaurants, the New Orleans Museum of Art and the Orleans Parish Museum of Fine Arts.
The storm was one of several major storms that dumped snow, rain and sleet over the United States in January.
The heaviest rainfall of the month was measured at 5.3 inches (130 millimeters) on Saturday in New Orleans, according to the National Weather Agency.
In the eastern part of the country, the National Hurricane Center said the strongest storm to make landfall in the United Kingdom was Hurricane Hugo on Feb. 11, which made landfall in Plymouth, England, and hit southern England and Scotland.
In the Northern Hemisphere, Hurricane Irene made landfall on Feb 9, which hit New York City and parts of Connecticut.
The hurricane center said the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said that the storm’s winds have strengthened and that it is now moving toward the northeast, heading toward the Atlantic Ocean.
The storms were not all bad.
The powerful storm that slammed into southern Florida was one that is expected to bring heavy rain and damaging winds to the Sunshine State, officials said.
Irma is moving through the Gulf of Mexico, and it’s expected to be a strong, strong hurricane, according the National Centers for Environmental Information.
The storm is moving at a speed of 40 mph (65 kph), which is about the speed of a jet.
The latest NHC Hurricane Prediction Center model predicts that the hurricane will be moving west-northwest at 35 mph (60 kph) and will develop into a Category 3 hurricane by Monday afternoon.
