Tropical Storm Barry is approaching hurricane strength and is expected to be a hurricane at landfall.
The center of Barry is just under 50 miles from the coast, with landfall expected late this morning or early this afternoon in Vermillion Bay.
Hurricane force winds, deadly storm surge, and flooding rains are expected with conditions deteriorating over the next several hours in Louisiana.
Since most of the rain is south of the center, the heavy flooding has been delayed, but will spread over much of Louisiana and Mississippi today.
There is a high risk flood threat for much of southeast Louisiana, including New Orleans, Baton Rouge, and Lafayette.
Once inland the flood threat will continue into early next week for the Mississippi Valley.
