Flood watches were issued on the Gulf Coast from Galveston Bay in Texas to Gulfport, Miss., on Thursday as a storm threatened the region with heavy rain that could last through the weekend, the National Weather Service said.
In the New Orleans area, a flood watch is active until 7 a.m. Saturday. By late Thursday morning, two to five inches of rain had already fallen around New Orleans in the previous 24 hours.
The storm system is unlikely to become a named storm, but a wave of tropical moisture expected to move inland from the Gulf of Mexico could bring rainfall measuring up to 10 inches in some spots, the Weather Service said.
A coastal flood advisory was also in effect around New Orleans through Friday morning, with the National Weather Service warning of minor coastal flooding of one to two feet.
New Orleans is already having one of its wettest years in decades. The city had received 57 inches of rain by Thursday, which was 10 inches above the average of 46 inches that would typically have fallen by this date.
In response to the continuing threat of flooding in the city, which lies below sea level and has experienced issues with its drainage system, officials in Louisiana agreed to install dozens of flood detection sensors in the city this year.
The city’s new flood detection sensors, part of a pilot project for the manufacturer and Verizon, are intended to identify when water has risen below the devices, and how far, and to communicate that information so officials can track real-time flooding conditions.
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