Tropical Storm Sally is expected to hit the southeast coast of Louisiana as a Category 1 hurricane Tuesday morning, less than three weeks after Hurricane Laura caused widespread damage.
Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards declared a declared a state of emergency, and New Orleans officials have ordered residents to evacuate.
As the storm approaches, states on the southern coast are preparing for heavy rainfall and life-threatening storm surge.
“The bottom line continues to be that Sally is expected to be a dangerous slow-moving hurricane near the coast of southeastern Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama during the next 2-3 days,” the National Hurricane Center warned.
Edwards said that they “have every reason to believe that this storm represents a very significant threat to the people of Southeast Louisiana.” Edwards said that he has spoken to President Donald Trump and is submitting a pre-landfall federal declaration request.
Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves, who signed a preliminary state of emergency Sunday, warned the storm “is probably going to persist over most portions of the state for basically 48 hours.”
Louisiana still recovering from Laura
Sally comes just weeks after Hurricane Laura made landfall as a Category 4, causing widespread flooding and damage in the southwest part of the state.
Laura, which left six people dead statewide, tied with a hurricane from more than 150 years ago, as the strongest storm to strike the state of Louisiana.
Photos: Hurricane Laura leaves trail of destruction
Derailed train cars lie on their side in Lake Charles, Louisiana, on August 29.
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President Donald Trump tours the damage in Lake Charles on August 29.
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A building sits partially submerged in water in Hackberry, Louisiana, on August 28.
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Rachel Ellis, left, and J’Nay Fitch salvage items from the AutoZone store where they work in Lake Charles on August 28.
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A person stands in front of a damaged vehicle near Orange, Texas, on August 28.
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Pousson’s Laundromat and Barbershop is left in ruins in Westlake, Louisiana.
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This aerial photo shows a devastated neighborhood outside of Lake Charles on August 27.
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Maria Ramirez and her 17-year-old son, Jose Avila, survey the damage to their home in Orange, Texas, on August 27.
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Mannequins are strewn on the floor at the Hair Saga store after Hurricane Laura passed through Lake Charles on August 27.
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A man walks through a debris-filled hallway on the second floor of a Lake Charles church that lost its roof on August 27.
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People survey the damage to their Lake Charles neighborhood on August 27.
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A McDonald’s sign is damaged in Iowa, Louisiana, on August 27.
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Ahmed Nawaz looks at the damage in his store in Lake Charles on August 27.
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Smoke rises from a chemical fire at a Lake Charles plant on August 27. Plant managers were trying to contain a chlorine leak, according to state police. Details about what started the fire weren’t immediately available.
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A person holds a photo taken from a damaged home in Cameron Parish, Louisiana, on August 27.
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Damage is seen at an office building lobby in Lake Charles on August 27.
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This aerial photo shows the roof blown off an AutoZone store in Lake Charles on August 27.
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Benjamin Luna helps recover items from the children’s wing of the First Pentecostal Church in Orange, Texas, on August 27.
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Dozens of small fish are trapped inland after the hurricane ripped through Holly Beach, Louisiana.
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Louisiana National Guard Pfc. Devin Lejeune helps search a Lake Charles apartment complex for people in need.
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Martin Almanza paddles a canoe through a flooded section of Galveston, Texas, on August 27.
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The Capitol One Bank Tower is seen with its windows blown out in downtown Lake Charles.
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Latasha Myles and Howard Anderson stand in their Lake Charles living room, which is where they were sitting when the roof blew off around 2:30 a.m. on August 27.
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A tangle of power lines hangs over a street in Lake Charles.
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The driver of an overturned 18-wheeler exits his vehicle after police arrive to the scene along Interstate 10 in Vinton, Texas. Both the driver and a passenger suffered minor injuries.
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A person walks past a destroyed building in Lake Charles.
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Flooding is seen in Sabine Pass, Texas.
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A structure is flattened near a beach in Lake Charles.
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The L’Auberge Casino Resort is seen after the lights went out in Lake Charles.
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Shrimp boat Sea Lion V prepares for Hurricane Laura’s landfall on August 26.
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This photo of Hurricane Laura was taken from aboard the International Space Station on August 26.
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Victoria Nelson lines up her children, Autum, Shawn and Asia, as they board a bus to evacuate Lake Charles on August 26.
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A sheriff’s deputy wipes his face while manning a roadblock in Lake Charles on August 26.
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Families line up to board buses to evacuate Lake Charles on August 26.
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Children play at the Circuit of the Americas racetrack, where some evacuees were settling in Austin, Texas, on August 26.
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Demeteri Bushnell is hugged by her great-niece as they and other evacuees prepare to board a bus in Lake Charles.
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Traffic is at a near-standstill on Interstate 10 as people evacuate the region near Jennings, Louisiana, on August 25.
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A US Postal Service employee covers a mailbox with plastic wrap in Galveston, Texas. The plastic wrap signals that the final mail has been cleared from the box, and it prevents people from placing mail inside that could be lost in a flood.
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An evacuee waits to board a bus in Port Arthur, Texas, on August 25.
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Nick Gaido, left, helps board up windows at his seafood restaurant in Galveston.
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Roman Tatriot, with the help of family and friends, rounds up cattle in Cameron, Louisiana, so he can get them to higher ground.
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A family walks to a charter bus that would take them from Galveston Island to Austin.
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Katy Gay carries a dog as the Houston SPCA transferred more than 100 animals to the Austin Humane Society.
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People wait to board a bus to leave Galveston.
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People make sandbags at St. Raymond Church in New Orleans.
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People tie down their vessels along Louisiana’s Lake Pontchartrain on August 23.
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People stand in long lines before entering a New Orleans Costco to pick up supplies.
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Michael Kent moves his boat in Venice, Louisiana, on August 23.
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Crews bring sandbags to help with flooding prevention in Belle Chasse, Louisiana.
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Cesar Reyes, right, carries a sheet of plywood as he helps install window coverings at a business in Galveston.
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Houston firefighters prepare rescue equipment in advance of the storm.
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The storm destroyed power grids in the state and repairs were anticipated to take weeks, if not months, to complete, officials said.
More than 70,000 people remain without power in the state following Laura, according to Poweroutage.us. At the peak, more than 800,000 customers were without power.
FEMA has approved assistance for 21 parishes in the state impacted by Laura, according to press release issued Sunday by the governor’s office.
Mandatory evacuations ordered across Louisiana
Mandatory evacuations have been issued for several parishes, including Orleans, where New Orleans is located.
Some evacuations, including those in New Orleans for areas outside of the levee protection, were scheduled to go into effect at 6 p.m. local time (7 p.m. ET) Sunday.
Venetian Isles, Lake Catherine and Irish Bayou, which are not protected by the levee, could see storm surge between 7 to 11 feet during Sally, NOLA Ready said in a tweet.
New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell said Sunday that the city is preparing for Tropical Storm Sally by distributing sandbags, getting pumps fully operational and signing an emergency declaration.
Collin Arnold, director of the New Orleans Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness, cautioned residents about the severity of the storm during the press conference Sunday.
“This is potentially going to be a Category 2 hurricane impacting the greater area in the city of New Orleans,” Arnold warned. “You should be gathering your emergency supplies, three days’ worth.”
A mandatory evacuation has also been ordered in St. Charles Parish, which is home to more than 52,000 residents and located on the banks of the Mississippi in Southeast Louisiana.
“This is a storm everyone needs to take seriously. We are likely to see tropical storm force and hurricane strength winds for longer than Hurricane Katrina, a storm surge of 4-7 feet and the possibility of 20 inches of rain,” St. Charles Parish President Matthew Jewell announced Sunday on the official Facebook page of St. Charles Parish. “We want residents to heed our warnings and make preparations to leave now.”
Plaquemines Parish, where the Mississippi River meets the Gulf of Mexico, announced on Twitter Sunday that a mandatory evacuation would be ordered for “the entire East Bank of Plaquemines Parish and on the West Bank from Phillips 66 Alliance Refinery to Venice.” Plaquemines Parish also announced a voluntary evacuation “from the community of Oakville to Phillips 66 Alliance Refinery.”
Grand Isle is also under mandatory evacuation due to Sally and a mandatory evacuation notice has gone out to the community of Port Fourchon.
At least one nursing home has already started evacuating their residents, Edwards said.
Three jails have also evacuated a total of 1,200 inmates, Edwards said.
Mississippi still assessing risk
Reeves said Sunday the state is working to make decisions on possible mandatory evacuations depending on changes in the weather in the coming hours.
Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey also warned residents to stay vigilant during the storm expected to hit neighboring states.
“While it is currently not being predicted as a direct hit to our coastal areas, we know well that we should not take the threat lightly,” Ivey said Sunday. “We offer our prayers and support to our friends in Louisiana as they are expected to once again be in the path of severe weather.”
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