NEW ORLEANS — The city of New Orleans is now under a tropical storm warning as Tropical Storm Barry inches closer to the southeast Louisiana coast.
New Orleans is likely to feel the impacts of the storm - including heavy rains and flooding - beginning Friday into Saturday.
"Gather your supplies, secure your property and make preparations to shelter in place," Mayor LaToya Cantrell said. "While it is uncertain what the impact will be, we will be affected and we need to be prepared."
Here are the preparations Orleans Parish is making:
City Government
- City Hall, the New Orleans Libraries, New Orleans Recreation and all administrative city agencies will be closed Thursday and Friday.
Public Safety
- NOPD and NOFD have pre-staged barricades in flood-prone areas to keep drivers from entering high water.
- The I-610 East exit to Franklin Avenue is closed because of flooding in the area. Additional exits along the interstates may be closed in the event of flooding.
- The New Orleans ICE Field Office has temporarily suspended immigration enforcement in storm-impacted areas
- Staffing for the NOFD has been increased
- The New Orleans Health Department's call center will remain open 24/7
- Power outages are possible with this storm and people with electrically dependent medical equipment, or their family members, should go online at specialneeds.nola.gov or call 3-1-1 to enroll in the Special Needs Registry.
Infrastructure
- All staffed pumping stations will have operators on duty throughout the event
- All but two of the city's 120 drainage and constant-duty pumps are available.
- Entergy is working to quickly restore service in advance of the storm. More information is available at entergystormcenter.com. Residents can download the app at entergyapp.com and sign up for text alerts by texting REG to 368374.
- The Department of Public Works is working to clean and unclog catch basins, as well as flush drain lines in flood-prone areas.
- Parking restrictions on neutral grounds and sidewalks is suspended until further notice, but residents are reminded to not to block intersections or streetcar tracks
- The Department of Public Works is removing stranded vehicles that are blocking the roadway, and residents with stranded vehicles are expected to move them immediately
- The Department of Parks and Parkways is removing debris that could become projectiles
- The Sanitation Department is removing debris on public property
INTERACTIVE MAP: New Orleans' pump station drainage map
Garbage
Garbage and recycling collections will happen as scheduled on Friday. On Saturday, garbage and recycling collections will be suspended as follows:
Outside of the French Quarter and Downtown Development District:
- Metro Service Group and Richard’s Disposal
Inside of the French Quarter and Downtown Development District:
- Empire Services - Saturday/Sunday Evening Collection
Transportation
- The New Orleans Regional Transit Authority is replacing ferry and streetcar services with bus services. Ferry crews have secured all ferryboats and ferry landings. RTA will continue to provide on-going services, weather-permitting
- As of Thursday, Amtrack will be suspending train services Thursday and Friday, Greyhound will suspend bus services starting Midnight Thursday until Sunday and Megabus has suspended services Thursday and Friday and will evaluate Saturday morning and weekend services
Information
- Sign up for text updates by texting BARRY to 888777.
- Follow @nolaready on social media
- See updates on ready.nola.gov