BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP) — Parts of the drought-parched South were under flood watches and warnings Friday with forecasters saying as much as 10 inches of rain could fall.
The National Weather service said an advancing cold front would collide with a weather disturbance that became a tropical depression in the Gulf of Mexico.
The National Hurricane Center said the storm’s center was 320 miles (515 kilometers) south-southwest of Lake Charles, Louisiana. It had maximum sustained winds of 35 mph (55 kph).
Forecasters issued a tornado watch for southern Mississippi and southwestern Alabama, but heavy rains were the immediate threat.
Coastal Louisiana could receive as much as 10 inches (25 centimeters) of rain Friday and Saturday, forecasters said, and 6 inches (15 centimeters) was possible across a wide section of Mississippi.
Streets were flooding around New Orleans and metro Birmingham with more rain on the way.
Rainfall totals ranging from 1 to 4 inches (2.5 to 10 centimeters) are possible from Alabama to South Carolina, the weather service said.
