Dangerous and slow-moving Hurricane Barry made landfall along the central Louisiana coast Saturday afternoon as residents braced for life-threatening amounts of rain.
Some areas of Louisiana are under mandatory evacuation orders as Barry — the first hurricane of the Atlantic hurricane season — barrels through the state. Over 300 people have evacuated to shelters, officials said.
Barry was at Category 1 hurricane strength when it made landfall near Intracoastal City. Barry then weakened to a tropical storm.
Though the storm is no longer a hurricane, it’s bringing extremely dangerous amounts of rainfall Saturday night, which could lead to flash flooding.
VIDEO: View of LA 1 from the South Lafourche Levee. Video provided by Golden Meadow Police Chief Reggie Pitre. #TropicalStormBarry pic.twitter.com/lJRQoOFEpe
Rainfall could reach 25 inches in some areas.
In Terrebonne Parish, trapped residents were rescued by an air crew early Saturday as floodwaters rose, according to the Coast Guard.
In New Orleans, where rainfall may reach 20 inches, Mayor LaToya Cantrell on Saturday urged residents and visitors to shelter in place, stay off the roads and brace for flooding.
All flights to and from Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport are cancelled for the day.
“We are not in any way out of the woods,” Cantrell said Saturday. “It is coming our way.”
The Rolling Stones moved their Sunday concert in the city to Monday.
In Morgan City, Mayor Frank Grizzaffi told ABC News, “We don’t have the pumping capacity to handle 20 inches of rain if it comes at one time.”
“We’re hoping that we get some heavy rain, that it stops and let’s us catch up, and we’re ready for the next batch,” he said.
I’m here on Eden Isle on the north shore of Lake Pontchartrain where the waves are really picking up. Water is completely covering the road here at Debbie Drive and Clara Drive. #TrackingBarry #TropicalStormBarry #NOLAwx #LAwx #flooding #Barry @WGNOtv pic.twitter.com/GXhOZSgqnJ
Pete Gaynor, acting administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), told “Good Morning America” Saturday that it was time to hunker down.
“If you haven’t made preparations, it’s probably too late,” he said. “Listen to your local officials, stay off the roads, stay inside and wait until you get the all-clear.”
In Baton Rouge, Louisiana State University is closed through Sunday.
Though rain is the biggest threat, Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards said Saturday that the winds can topple trees and utility poles.
Over 72,000 customers are without power in Louisiana.
Barry is also forecast to bring up to 6 feet of storm surge, a test of the levee system built after Hurricane Katrina in 2005.
No Mississippi River levee has been over topped, the governor said, and as of Saturday no levee had failed or breached.
FEMA has “high confidence that the levees will performed as designed,” Gaynor added.
Throughout Saturday, Barry will bring heavy rain to Louisiana, with some of the rain spreading to parts of Mississippi and Alabama. The most torrential rain will be east of the central circulation, where rainfall rates could be up to 3 inches per hour.
Tornadoes are also possible.
As the storm moves north, the heavy rain will stretch into Arkansas, too.
ABC News’ Joshua Hoyos contributed to this report.
