Rain, road flooding in US as Tropical Storm Cristobal draws closer

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Rain pounded the US Gulf Coast on Sunday ahead of the arrival of Tropical Storm Cristobal, which has already spawned a tornado in Florida.

Roads flooded in coastal Louisiana and Mississippi, and thousands were without power even before the storm made landfall.

It was expected to arrive on US soil late Sunday, though it was not expected to grow into a hurricane.

Forecasters warned the storm would affect a wide area stretching roughly 180 miles east into Florida.

But they forecast the worst impacts in southeast Louisiana and southern Mississippi, where some spots could get up to 12 inches of rain and storm surges of several feet. Tornadoes were also a danger.

“It’s very efficient, very tropical rainfall,” National Hurricane Center Director Ken Graham said in a Facebook video.

“It rains a whole bunch real quick.”

Squalls with tropical-force winds reached the mouth of the Mississippi River by Sunday morning and conditions were expected to deteriorate, the National Hurricane Center in Miami said.

Cristobal’s maximum sustained winds remained at 50 miles per hour, and it was moving north at 12 miles per hour, centred around 75 miles south-southwest of the mouth of the Mississippi River.

Follow The Gleaner on Twitter and Instagram @JamaicaGleaner and on Facebook @GleanerJamaica. Send us a message on WhatsApp at 1-876-499-0169 or email us at onlinefeedback@gleanerjm.com or editors@gleanerjm.com.