Barry on slow, wet slog into Louisiana

UPDATE: Barry has made landfall on the Louisiana coast, weakening from a hurricane to a tropical storm with sustained winds near 70 mph, the National Hurricane Center said.

OUR EARLIER REPORT (10:43 a.m.): Tropical Storm Barry has strengthened into a hurricane after gathering “a big slough of moisture” as it gradually makes its way ashore in central Louisiana, National Hurricane Center director Ken Graham said. In Morgan City, west of New Orleans, residents reported on-and-off rain and power outages Saturday morning. The storm is moving so slowly that heavy rain will likely continue throughout the weekend across the state, Graham said. Barry will test flood-prevention efforts implemented after Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans 14 years ago. Forecasters were optimistic Saturday that the 20-foot levees in New Orleans would hold; they said the Mississippi River is expected to crest at 17.1 feet.

The Coast Guard conducted one rescue operation early Saturday, picking up more than a dozen people stranded on a remote Louisiana island that is home to the Isle de Jean Charles Band of Biloxi-Chitimacha-Choctaw Tribe.