the mississippi river just behind me here, as been at flood stage for months. 40 feet. we're looking for it to crest at 43 feet. if you follow the line of the mississippi, that's where you see the heaviest rain. some of the heaviest rain to hit new orleans, are happening right now. that's where gary tuchman is in the thick of the rains. what else are you seeing this morning? >> you're right. friday, saturday and sunday. this is the heaviest rain we've seen in new orleans. they haven't gotten as much rain as they could have gotten. initially when we came here, the possibility was up to 20 inches of rain here in new orleans, louisiana, which would have been devastating. the count is 4 inches of rain, that's good news. behind me, the french quarter. it's unsettling when you see the french quarter quiet. last night, on a saturday night, it was quiet. it's quiet right now. the hope is, things will get back to business tonight. talking about the mississippi river. we're on the banks of it right now. the mississippi river is 16 1/2 feet. you get over 20 feet. it would

every flood wall in and around the mississippi river in new orleans were closed for the first time everhreatened when the river was at flood stage. they are concerned about flash flooding and the possibility of other areas in the city of new orleans. there has been a lot of focus on the pumping stations. there are more than 100 of them designed to keep the water off the streets. we got a tweet from the sewer board. it may appear the water is not moving, but it is training. picture your bathtub after you pull the drain. you don't see swirling immediately but the water is pumping. as the rain continues to fall heavier throughout tonight and tomorrow. some of this is like a wait and see kind of thing. eric: billions have gone into the water system and those levee to defend that wonderful great city and certainly hope that will happen. arthel: as long as the pumps keep work we are in good shape. tropical storm barry moving north and drenching the area with heavy rainfall. we'll bring in adam klotz. we just got an update and we see the wind have backed off to 65 miles per hour. that's to be

the mississippi river is right back here.ally don't like to use numbers when i talk in live reports because people's eyes glaze over. it's important for this point. the normal level for the mississippi river is 11 feet. before it came it was after 16 1/2 feet. 20 feet is dangerous. it's not expected to go over 17.1 feet. that's the good, encouraging news. people here were worried the levels of the mississippi river would get so high and inundated city and cause deaths. there have been no deaths or injuries. the only kausht has been in the french quarter. everything else has been shut down for the last couple of days. the sun is coming up, a new day has begun. the business people were hoping the french quarter will be busy again as the tropical storm pulls away from louisiana. erica, back to you. >> reporter: gary, thank you. we'll have more of our continued coverage from our team. some of the teams out there assessing the situation at this hour. they'll be letting us know what they're finding in other areas of the state throu

and the subsequent control of the mississippi river by the u.s. one of the early strategic vegans visions, controlling the mississippi was imperative. someone who read the situation clearly and pragmatically, in a letter in 1861, was william sherman. writing a friend and former colleague at what would become lsu, sherman put the matter bluntly. now i am quoting from sherman. the mississippi river will be a great theater of war. it is horrible to contemplate, but it cannot be avoided. were it not for the physical geography of the country, it might be that people could consent to divide and separate in peace, but the mississippi is too grand an element to be divided. all of it must in necessity be under one government. against this strategic backdrop, sam clemens would make a valuable contribution to the war effort of whichever side he aligns himself with. if he would only join up with a pilot as his mentor, which bixby did. he served as the pilot of the mississippi river squadron. but clemens didn't join up. the fact that he didn't should tell us so

rivers and rain. we're going to have all three. >>> the mississippi is so high. result would be a repeat of wednesday's flash flood emergency. one resident who lived through katrina said he is concerned. >> this brings some unique elements. we've never had the river this high. you know, a storm come n the levies are saturated. i think after the katrina situation we had gustav and they did a much b

she those closest to the mississippi river. all the places experienced almost no federal incursions. it love of goods into the confederacy. french intervention in mexico edited diplomatic dimension. part of the mississippi theater that laid west, that is marked on your map. it embraced everything from western kansas and the dakotas to the pacific coast. from the texas panhandle across modern-day new mexico and arizona to california. that area remains peripheral to the civil war. lightly populated region one is very little military action 29 states and the confederacy. meant that had any effect on the conference outcome. their rebel force. under general henry hopkins looked up the rio grande from el paso in 1861 and 1862 and reese the vicinity of santa fe. before retreating back to texas in the spring. in 2017, i wrote a piece for civil war times. and other smaller operations in the far western area. i have wanted to do this for them stay. scarcely rise to the level of inconsequential. this famous bird a dramatic reaction from a

we've had flooding on the mississippi river for quite a while.ery concerned about them but for now the levies seem to be in good shape wite exception of one area resting to the southwest of our present position. mandatory evacuations there. but in the city doing well for >> reynolds wolf reporting for us. thank you so much and stay safe out there. >> reporter: absolutely.. good morning >>> all right, lauryn, looks like a relatively calm conditions out there right now. >> yeah. >> but obviously the worst iset to come. >> yeah. and they're going to continue to see these heavy bands of rain that push into that area. and the river's already swollen, the mississippi river's already swollen. if you don't know, i know you worked in louisiana, the mississippi river around louisiana and around new orleans, i mean, it goes up and down and around and around and itth flows from the nor to the south. it is completely swollen from the rrin they got in the spng and also the winter they had ana the t'pontchartrain, thas on the north side of new orleans a's they'

it is not a mississippi river levee.d out of there, is in jeopardy of flooding. we understand emergency equipment is being brought in to make repairs. that of course an area that is under mandatory evacuation orders. but a very fluid situation as barry continues barreling down on much of the gulf coast, from texas, louisiana, all the way to alabama, mississippi. kristin. kristin: casey, thank you so much. leland. leland: we keep watching that. and we are also watching this weekend immigration authorities that are preparing for a roundup they say of undocumented my grants who have been ordered to leave the united states but haven't in several cities across the united states. the raids begin sunday and they are already being met with protests and demonstrations across the country. christina coleman tracking all of that for our west coast newsroom. hi, christina. >> reporter: some of the cities where the raids are set to take place include san francisco, houston, sh chicago and here in, the plans have sparked outrage and pr

i never quite understood why it looms so large, because the key to the mississippi river is holding new orleans, and that is gone in april of 1862. so the mississippi ceases to be a confederate river one year into the war. that is a huge victory for the what retrievedthe situation for lincoln in 1864, you got half of it, is atlanta and half of it and because americans than, now have short memories, the shenandoah valley coming closer to the election, also played a key role there. i do not pretend that things in the western not important. my argument is that the east looms larger and people in various ways made that clear. and i think that if the west were really the most important place, i do not think you can really overestimate grant's importance in all of this. grant is the man by what he did in the west by, shiloh, vicksburg, and chattanooga, and it allows sherman to become what he was, because without grant, you do not have sherman. sherman absolutely needs grant. so grant makes his name in the west. the fact he came east and accompanies the army of potomac suggests just how vital

coming ashore not only here in mississippi coast but southwest mississippi and moving up the mississippi river to already flooded mississippi delta 540,000 ache aers underwater. steve live in st. louis, mississippi with the latest. steve. worst that have rain ahead and could get ten to 20 inches of rain already across mississippi more than it 200 roads have been flooded and state is prepositioning assets across state to try to rescue people who might be trap ad by flood waters. they've got swift boats as well as high water vehicles we're out with one today patrolling neighborhoods already beginning to flood seeing if anyone needed help. even veterans of multiple storms according to the deputy chief he said they still can get surprised by how fast the water comes up. here's the deputy chief. >> most of the time this weather water has came up too fast on them and we'll take our rescue vehicles and come down. every now and a then, you get the elder orally person that is not able to, and that's what we're there for we'll come down to get them out. flooding is not going to be just here the coast so

orcas already this is one month and it's not just the levees right there are fears that the mississippi river might overflow its banks is that still a concern. that has been a concern what i can say right now is that the river is very swollen as you can see it has reached about 5 meters today and the levees are at 6 meters they were significantly rebuilt in the wake of hurricane katrina the governor says right now that they feel confident that they will be able to hold the tides back so right now it seems that everything is in place all the flood gates are closed and that risk has subsided here in new orleans and of course new orleans is the city where over a decade ago hurricane katrina absolutely the vis aerated the place brought enormous amounts of flooding our people there confident now that the city can withstand a similar event i think opinion is divided my on there does remain a great deal of public mistrust i spoke to some people this morning who said that they know if people in the neighborhoods who had just simply taken the choice to leave if they could and of course that memory of

we're on the west bank of the mississippi river near the french quarter, new orleans. normally the level of this river in new orleans is under 11 feet, but because of heavy rains over the past weeks and months, before the storm came, the level got to 16 1/2 feet. that's a dangerous stage. when it gets about 17.1 feet, that's flood stage. that's what it's expected to get to today, 17.1 feet. the dangerous number is if it gets over 20, because the levee system in new orleans is built to contain 20-foot floods. that was the fear as the week started. as the storm started coming, it would go over 20 feet. forecasterss say they don't anticipate at this point, we must say anticipate because this isn't over. they don't anticipate it will go over the 17.1 feet and that's good news for new orleans. behind me, this is the natvhez steam boat on the mississippi river, it hasn't gone out for two days. they are hoping to get back out on the mississippi river tomorrow. this is the french quarter. it's been quiet over the past two days. they anticipate business will come back tomorrow.

this is the storm surge and mississippi river. g the water up towards new orleans. so again, that will be the drama is what happens during the day on saturday in new orleans. how high does the river get and it's not like had the levees are going to break. but it's the over topping. it's like your bathtub. you fill it too high and it spills over the edge. then it's up to the pumps to control the spilling. so we'll see. >> 1:00 p.m. saturday. >> during the day saturday, yes. >>> still ahead for all of you, the race for mitch mcconnell's senate seat is generating plenty of buzz and donations. a look at the money pouring in. >>> plus washington could use some of that money after president trump's celebration left the security fund bankrupt. the steps the officials want the white house to take over the cost of those festivities. hi, i'm dave. i supply 100% farm-fresh milk for lactaid. it's real milk, just without the lactose, so you can enjoy it even if you're sensitive. delicious. now, i've heard people say lactaid isn't real milk. ok,

the city's already dealing with flash flooding and a rising mississippi river. the chief of police urging everyone to be prepared. >> we would like to remind our villagers to shelter in place. be safe, be smart. heavy rain can cause streets to become impassable and quickly flooded. unless it is unavoidable, please remain in your homes. >> dana: casey stegal is reporting live from new orleans. casey? >> reporter: yeah, dana. emergency management officials holding that briefing not long ago describing how they're really preparing for more of a flooding event as opposed to a wind event and things like that. in fact, roll the video. they may have had a slight taste of what's to come yesterday. look at this. caught many by surprise during the morning rush hour. 8 inches of rain came down in just three hours, sending water into businesses, right down there in downtown new orleans metro. and officials at that press conference saying what happened yesterday could bring 12 to 18 inches of rain to southern louisiana by monday. so they say that it could be bone dry one min

i think people are wondering what is opened which was the height of the mississippi rivers is really that tropical storms isn't really anything that scares us but with the mississippi river being so high it put everybody into a hysteria and on edge and we are okay, we ended up being okay. arthel: that is a good news and we certainly don't want to hype it and we want to acknowledge that as well. like typical new orleans, we honker down and grab daquiries, they have great frozes by the way, go grab one of those, on serious note i wanted to thank you, lauren and bring calm to the story, we are concerned but we don't want to overhype this as well, when is your store opening again, by the way, do you know? >> we will reopen tomorrow and i'm hearing that from everybody and we kind of have -- the rolling stones are in new orleans, they honkerred down in new orleans with us, they are playing this weekend, keith richards out with everything. arthel: speaking of concert the rolling stone concert, actually dump the funk, my cousin and my brother's band. >> yes. >> they are opening for rolling s

the good news i don't know if i mentioned, the mississippi river has already crested. they were worried it might get near the 20 foot levees. they were predicting could get heavy and then they downgraded it to 19. it is cresting at 17.1 and already proceeding but bringing a lot of rain and as the rain moves north you could flood the river again and we were told to expect another crest on monday but they didn't say how high it would crest on monday. if they thought it would overwhelm the levees they would have talked about that, how much water comes down and how high it is, the army corps of engineers seemed very confident this storm system, the levees would hold and at least that portion wouldn't flood. a lot of rainsoaked areas, flooding is very likely including flash flooding. shannon: a triple threat with the flooding and the storm surge and the rain you are experiencing. rick leventhal live in new orleans. tropical storm barry could become hurricane barry, first of the 2019 season, expected to make landfall later this morning. i am and our claim and -- back to "fox

the critical level for the mississippi river in new orlea hat you did not want that river to hit, 20 feet, the army corps of engineers national weather service now thinking the river is going to top out at 17 feet. a footehere and th makes a huge difference in the forecast. the conditions are going to remain unsettled th ed there ri through the weekend withstanding water as the storm makes landfall early tomorrow morning. back here at home, it's a mainly dry weekend for us. it's hot out there, butt it's no too humid, something we don't often get in july. enjoy it, try to notice it. it might feel a little bit humid but it'sot n oppressionive out there. it's summer.ll we're a trying to stay cool out there. tomorrow, sunday, it's the extra larg large. tue temperatures into the mid 90s and it is humid out there on tuesday. currently right now it's balmy for summer. 72 in manassas. balmy is a nice way to describe the weather. to me ieels kind of nice out there. tomorrow morning it's a warm start at 72 degrees. blue skies in the forecast tomorrow, barely any clouds, a high of 92. tnday ano

>>while authorities monitor the mississippi river which is expected to crest at 19 feet on saturday, just one foot below the height of the flood wall weather warnings from the sky, the river the gulf, the surge waters water and. >>we've got to fight all 3 of them here but we're ready for it. >>in orleans on conner powell kron 4 let's take a live look now. >>and along the gulf coast where tropical storm barry is moving to show this is along the coastline of the new orleans area and you can even see the camera there shaking as the winds are picking up in the area were not exactly clear where the shot is being taken, but that's the situation with new orleans because there's so much water. >>around it you got lake pontchartrain which is huge right next to new orleans you get the mississippi river right next orleans and you got the gulf coast. south of new orleans. so a free so there's a lot to be concerned about down there. yeah there really is especially new orleans which should get upwards of 25 inches of rain by the end of this weekend so flooding will be a concern long after tropical

if i'm a typical mississippi river a crucial 3 of comus which drains 41 percent of the entire united states this year it's exceeded all records the volume of water down at schools swollen by extreme spring rains and snow melt upstream the mississippi has never been this high for this long it is unprecedented and everyone who lives in new orleans this puts the trust in the levee system which protects the city from flooding while upstream the engine is well they try and ease the pressure. and they've done that with the rare opening of the pony carriage spillway built in the 90 thirty's to colossal quantities of water away from the main river in times of high flood of just about 12 times in its history this is actually the 1st year that it's been opened twice in the same calendar year so this is really one of the one of the longest floods on record the spillway will remain open until the end of july but there's a problem it's upset the ecological balance of the mississippi sound diluting the mix of fresh and so water with devastating effect to coastal businesses now we're starting to se

and moving again on mississippi river, we are back to work today and continue in the weeks ahead. arthel: general kaiser, you're doing a fine job, thank you very much, thank you for your time and good luck with everything, sir, thank you. >> thank you. >> okay. >> this could have been much worse, when you're talking about a city like new york with significant piece of the city basically suffering a blackout, that could be a very chaotic situation. we saw the exact opposite actually, we saw new yorkers at their best. eric: wow, what a night it was in new york city, imagine if your lights, your television, your air-conditioning and the street where you live goes dark, that did happen without warning here in new york city. we suffered a fur hour blackout that hit major chunk of the nation's biggest city right in the heart of manhattan. broadway shows and bus squares darkened and drivers left to fend for themselves because no traffic signals, folks were trapped in elevators in high-rises and darkened subways underground but thankfully the juice did go back on, jackie has more on last

this, the mississippi river. the path i'm on along the mississippi in the french quarter, usually the sun just rose, people are out jogging, walking, skipping stones on the river. right now it is closed to the public. no one is allowed here for their own safety because this is the main concern, the river. because of heavy rains the last weeks and months, the water is high. this is 20 feet. there was grave concern that the storm with the amount of rain that's going to be dumped -- we had rain, but it stopped now. as we heard, the brunt will come the rest of the day today and tomorrow. there was grave tornaconcern itd go over the wall, 20 feet above the mississippi river. there was concern that the waters could go over there. that's what makes this different from katrina. the disaster during katrina was levees that split open and water came out killing hundreds in the city. this is a totally different storm. obviously not as strong with the winds, but the concern was that the river would cause immense flooding. the

behind me is the mississippi river. unlike hurricane katrina where you had massive levee failures to led to disaster, the concern is that the levels of the mississippi river can rise too high from the rains that are starting to come now, will continue throughout the day. the flood walls along the mississippi river could hold 20 feet of water. because of flooding over the past weeks and months, the mississippi river current she at 16.5 feet, a very high level. the thought was just as recently as yesterday that it could go to 19.5, for close to 20 feet. right now, the past couple of hours, we've gotten the latest report that the feeling is the levels won't go as high as they thought not because there's going to be a lot of rain, it is, but that it will be spread out over a long period of time. the thought is the levels may not go over 17.5 feet which is good news. talking about the floodgates, i'm on top of a flood wall. i will walk gingerly to one of the floodgates to give you a look at what the gates look like. this her

also flooding concern because that's right where the mississippi river is all that water is going to atershed all the way up to memphis, tennessee. that's why they are saying from the officials stay off the road and let the officials prepare for what's going to be a water event. rick: fatalities from hurricanes are -- the majority of them are from inland flooding. it's not from the impacts that happen right on the coast. it's from flooding far inland. this is going to be one of those stories. hopefully people heed the warnings and stay off of the roads and stay in safe places so there are no fatalities, when the majority of fatalities happen inland from people who crossroads and see that flooding happen from the rain far inland. jedediah: you know, rick, there is no mandatory evacuation in this cases i always wonder when i watch stories like this unfold what is the deciding factor where someone where a mayor would say this meets what the criteria for a mandatory evacuation? what does that look like the distinction? >> rick: each town, each place where you live has own geography and pl

many around the mississippi river. residents are putting down sand bags. let's get to meteorologist derek van dam. where do we stand, zmerk. >> from the national hurricane center to find out if the disturbance has finally developed. we do believe that's going to happen within the next 45 minutes or so as we start to see some convection forming right around the center of this storm system. here's the latest from the national hurricane center. tropical storm by this even, hurricane force at least category 1 by friday evening. landfall saturday morning right along the coastal areas of louisiana. as you mentioned earlier, west of the mississippi river mouth, that's where we have hurricane watches. tropical storm watches east of the mouth of the mississippi. this storm is moving into some warm water. this is like jet fuel for hurricane development. when you cee lo 90s along the gulf of mexico coast line, that gives the opportunity for the storm system to rapidly intensify. that definitely exists. bottom line what you need to know about this graphic is that both

the control of the mississippi river by the u.s. when the earliest visions of the war effort and the anaconda plan controlled the mississippi, it was imperative. someone who read the situation clearly and pragmatically in a letter of may 31, 1861. writing a friend and former colleague at what would become lsu, i am going from sherman. the mississippi river will be a great theater of war. it is horrible to contemplate, but it cannot be avoided. were it not for the physical geography of the country, people could consent to divide, but the mississippi is too grand to be divided and all its extent must of necessity be of one government. against this strategic backdrop, sam clemens would be making a valuable contribution of whichever side he aligned himself with. if he only joined up as a mentor, horace bixby served as a pilot of the uss bent on of the squadron. clemens didn't join up and that fact should tell us something important about him. instead of joining up, he had a brief adventure with a small group of young missouri an who is c

rivers and rain. we're going to have all three. >>> the mississippi is so high. the result would be a repeat of wednesday's flash flood emergency. one resident who lived through katrina said he is concerned. >> this brings some unique elements. we've never had the river this high. you know, a storm come n the levies are saturated. i think after the katrina situation we had gustav and they did a much better job of getting people up, getting people out, securing the city. i think that was a lesson learned. i'm concerned, however, that they've gotten complacent. states of emergency have been prepared. one is speeded up for trying to help. more on the relative calm before the storm. >> reporter: boris and christine, here it is a watch and wait to see what's going to happen next. the water in the mississippi is a lot higher than it normally is. right now they're believing about 10 to 15 inches of water could be on the way in the next 48 hours. officers are on 12-hour shifts. 118 pumps are ready to pump water out of this area should it start to flood. people are telling

you have a couple levees you have river levees and specifically like the mississippi river.ngle one of our mississippi levees have breached or overtopped during this event. what you are seeing are different kinds of levees, levees that are more designed to protect from storm surge from the backside, so what you have seen with barry is a confluence of three huge things, very very high mississippi river in an area inundated for months coupled with the storm surge of that barry and continued inundation from rain, so the overtopping you have seen has already been stopped and we have been able to stop that. my understanding as we are working on the overtopping. kristin: what are you most concerned about right now? be watching? >> not the storm surge anymore or could the storm should abated and now become the rain and flooding that we have had to route the for the last 200 days, so as we look to the rainfall happening remind everyone that 41% of our country drains right past new orleans, so even if the rate is flowing outside of the louisiana mississippi we will see it again. kris

and the rain that fell three months ago in nebraska that has filled the mississippi river. then the surge making it 3 or 4 more feet high, that would be a 19 foot surge on the river. and everywhere here in new orleans, it's above 20. except for these little red dots. not quite to 20 feet there. with waves on top of that, there could be water over the top of some of these levees. >> so much reason for concern. chad myers, thank you for being with us. we'll let you get back to the data. we'll speak to you with the new forecast at 8:00. >>> joining us now is the governor of louisiana. bel edwards. there are three major concerns always of flooding in louisiana, you said. that's the rain, the rivers, and the storm surge. and you're going to get all three with this. >> we are. we're in our 259th consecutive day of flood fights on the mississippi river. tomorrow morning we expect tropical storm barry to come ashore in central louisiana along the central coast. that will be the first time and it will come on as a hurricane. that will be the first time we've actually had a hurricane

in the crescent city named because the mississippi river makes that hard turn, there's another danger that up to 70-mile-per-hour winds could cause a 5 foot storm surge, pushing so much water up the river it spills over the top of new orleans levees. >> the mississippi is eight feet above its usual levels see the submerged trees? that's where the riverbank should be. >> a slow-moving storm now arriving, residents unsure what's next. >> i've never seen it this high. it's pretty impressive >> reporter: tonight in low lying areas outside of new orleans there are expectations of widespread flooding meantime, in the city, there is a shelter in place order. that means that residents should hunker down and stay off streets. lester, at this point it's now all about riding it out. >> we can see some of the waves overtopping behind you. thank you. let's get a read of where the storm is let's bring in al roker. al, what are we looking at >> reporter: right now barry is making its way toward the louisiana coast, 70 miles southeast of morgan city, louisiana. it's moving west northwest at 60 miles

we don't know what's going to happen, but the dangers are the mississippi river because this floods wall is 20 feet above the level of the mississippi. the concern is is that if the water goes over 20 feet of the mississippi river, you could have immense flooding in new orleans. earlier in the week, the forecast was that the levels would go above 19 feet, and that's because of flooding that happened the previous days and weeks. however, just over the last few hours, forecasters have come back and said it looks like now it will be much lower, 17 feet. that's good news. the reason they say that, they expect between 10 and 15 inches of rain in new orleans, a tremendous amount of rain. consider that usually weekend inches and ten inches of snow, equivalent to 100 to 150 inches of snow. it's tremendous precipitation. as allison was explaining, this is going to take a long time to go through. right now it's not raining at all. it was raining earlier. because it's going to take so long and be spread out, the feeling is the water won't rise as fast. and that potentially could be good news for th

the mississippi river may reach its highest level since 1950.check out full report from al roker next on "today." >>> a chance to enjoy dry weather around here. hot and humid today. tiny chance for a drop this afternoon but most of your fridaylans will not be impacted by mother nature. weekend hot for sure. we will have to see the moisture left from barr and haso come in this gerally direction. most likely time for us to deal with that is thursday, lingering into friday but a long way from now. in the meantime have a nice weekend. welcome, jummy. >> thank you very much. >> you made it through youow first ith us. no harm? feeling good? >> yes. >> takes a while to get used to early morning. >> a lot of coffee back here! >> that is the news for today. we appreciate you starting your day with us. >> "today" is next. see you in 25 minutes for all or uver wea your weather, traffic, and local news. >> in the meantime, make it a great friday, everybody. did you know comcast business goes beyond fast with a gig-speed network. complete internet reliabilit

she was one of seven sister ships, all named after cities in the -- on in the ohio and the mississippi river. so i -- so a li accompanied by the information from dr. johnson, a man of the river and a geologist on armistice day -- dsh i refuse to call it veterans day in 1966 we got in don jack's small boat and went up the yazoo river next. and here you see the map of the area. you see vicksburg. now as you look up the yazoo river you're going to see the yazoo river at that time flowed into the mississippi at the head of the point. and you look up the river and you're going to see breaks plantation. and we go up there and we think we have found the site of the cairo. we run into two scuba divers. ken parks is is a television personality in mississippi. and the other -- and the other one is skeeter hart, a united states marine. they are both scuba divers. and we have enthusiasm but not much heavy equipment. so on this -- this is in mid-september. we have borrowed a world war ii pumping you know it from the jackson fire department which you can see in the river. you can see this small boat with

days and i will say that one levee one river has already overflown and levee not here by the mississippi river the river but about an hour and a hoff away from here and there we saw a flash flooding triggered i've already sold and ground in another part of the state we saw 12 people have to be rescued by helicopter today and even if this storm has been downgraded we normally see the 1st hurricane of the year on the 10th all organists already this is one month and it's not just the levees right there are fears that the mississippi river might overflow its banks is that still a concern that has been a concern what i can say right now is that the river is very swollen as you can see it has reached about 5 meters today and the levees are at 6 meters they were significantly rebuilt in the wake of hurricane katrina the governor says right now that they feel confident that they will be able to hold the tides back so right now it seems that everything is in place all the flood gates are closed and that risk has subsided here in new orleans and of course new orleans is the city where over a decade ago

many around the mississippi river. let's get to meteorologist derek van dam live in the weather center. derek? >> the 5 a.m. national hurricane watch said this is a disturbance, not a storm yet. we still expect that to form and organize within the next 12 to 24 hours due to the favorable conditions across the gulf of mexico. here's the official track again coming in to us. this is the first time i'm actually seeing it. it has shifted a little to the east. that doesn't bode well to new orleans. we'll explain that. we anticipate hurricane conditions making landfall saturday morning somewhere along the louisiana coast line. we have hurricane watches west of the mississippi river mouth. tropical storm watches to the east. there are the warm water temperatures in the low 90s right near the gulf of mexico coast line. and you can see the difference in the computer models. both of them making landfall again early saturday morning between 8 and noon, but the american model showing it a little further towards the east, which wou

pushes the mississippi river to record levels taking a heavy toll on wildlife. and we'll tell you which top tennis player is being credited with helping serena reach the with the final votes coming up with joe in sports so don't go away. i've been looking at your instagram account and reading takes into the atmosphere behind the scenes this is a dialogue when donald trump announce his candidacy for president carol after them everyone has a voice the best chance the democrats have to beat donald trump is to nominate an exciting inspirational charismatic nominee to join the global conversation on your thoughts to twitter and. find out is iraq. every reclaim news cycle brings a series of breaking stories this maximum jail term has jumped from 5 years to 175 years during the listening post as we turn the cameras on the media donald trump shouldn't be the one deciding who is a journalist and who isn't to focus on how they would call it on the stories that matter the most they move closer and closer to the tire shut down both international and domestic news coverage o

pushes the mississippi river to record levels taking a heavy toll on wildlife parts of the story behind these artworks saved from destruction during the soviet era. and in sport england cut australia from the world cup joe will have those details later. the japan and south korea of held talks to resolve a worsening trade dispute tokyo has restricted the export of materials used in manufacturing smartphones and memory chips to seoul raising concerns for the south korean economy and the global tech supply chain japanese officials say the restrictions are because south korea's failing to control the export of sensitive materials to north korea solved has denied that claim demanding evidence and a u.n. investigation. is or has the latest from tokyo. it's not so good news to the south korean makers today's meeting basically it was just a briefing by both countries on their position. announced at the end of this meeting which i ended in behind me in the trade ministry today they say that this meeting is basically not a negotiating meeting it's just to explain stance on this issue and in fact.

louisiana has been dealing with more than 270 days of flooding on the mississippi river, and so you havebayous and creeks and rivers that predate barry. all right, let's get to barry. it's expected to become a hurricane later today, about lunchtime we're told could be landfall along the louisiana gulf coast. listen, this storm is crawling. it is moving incredibly slow. right before we came on the air, the hurricanes center said barry had strengthened just a little bit, expected to be a category 1 storm when it makes landfall. of the video elements that we have to show you this morning, there's nothing major. there's minor flooding in the coastal areas that you would expect. around the new orleans area. but i was talking to our meteorologist at wwl in new orleans, a cbs affiliate, and he said, david, because the storm keeps tracking westward, i've actually lowered my rain expectations to 8 to 10 inches. but places like baton rouge, lafayette and morgan city where we are right now could get walloped with 20 inches of rain. jeff, i was talking to the mayor yesterday. he said, day-to-day, th

look how high the mississippi river is back there. for context and perspective, normally it's about 6 to 8 feet above sea level. right now it's 16, one 7 feet. the levee back there is only 25 feet high. on the other side, the houses, that's the ninth ward and the lower ninth ward. two aerial pictures of the fox drone that went over the ninth ward earlier. obviously an area devastated during katrina. this shows you what the exact spot looks like. a lot of the homes that were rebuilt were elevated. they've been put up on stilts to protect against future flooding. even with the city closing the flood gates and activating the full hurricane protect system that was put in post katrina, seeing the water already so close to the tops of those levees, even though the corps of engineers believe they will be okay, still seeing the level that high has a lot of folks that we've talked to mighty nervous, shepard. >> shepard: what's the word on evacuations, casey? >> we have mandatory and voluntary evacuation orders. of course, you have the lower-ly

an odd event here in yellow a tropical storm watch from the pearl river to the mouth of mississippi, does not include new orleans right now. from the pink in to cameron, louisiana it's a hurricane watch. most likely change to a warning backup but we've got a couple of days. this hasn't been named a depression. if it's named a tropical storm in the next 24 hours the name is barry. the tornado warning, submerged cars, businesses, the french quarter, 250 calls for emergency help and assistance. the last thing they need is to pick up over 9 inches of rainfall when we are looking at maybe 10, 15 or 20 in the tais ahead. the reason this is so important to watch, the mississippi river is at 16 foot at a levy in new orleans. when katerina hit it was 3. it's expected to go to the highest level in 90 years. the highest level a relevant test. >> with we have other breaking news into the situation room. new trouble if the persian gulf. apparently involving iran. let's go to barbara starr. what are you learning, barbara. >> fweeng, cnn learned in about the last seven hours iran made of an up succ

all of the red dots along the mississippi river are areas where the levees are below 20. north of the river, to the east of new orleans, these areas of red are areas where they have failed during katrina. so they're going to be watching it and, yes, the water will rise but more importantly it is all about the 10 to 20 inches of rain and i fear hundreds and hundreds of 911 calls, 250 911 calls two days ago when nine inches fell. >> this is a dangerous situation, tom sater, we'll get back to you. we'll have much more storm coverage just ahead. i'll speak next hour with the mayor of new orleans latoya cantrell. there is other breaking news we're following right now. >>> including one high-profile deba -- departure from the trum administration, and sources say he's considering making another dramatic move. let's go to jim acosta with the very latest. >> reporter: well president trump once again has another acting member of the cabinet as labor secretary alex acosta announced he is stepping down and a senior official said the president was stewing over his fate after he was dra

we are talking about a high risk of flooding through the lower mississippi river valley. rain fall amounts could top out at over 25 inches of rain. but generally 10 to 15 inches of rain. either way, lester, it will be really devastating flooding with this. >>> all right, al. thanks. >>> to our other big story breaking, the resignation of president trump's labor secretary. alex acosta faced harsh criticism for his role in the plea deal in florida in a sex abuse case against jeffrey epstein 11 years ago. our peterxa >> reporter: president trump and alex acosta today walking out of the white house together before that surprise announcement, acosta was resigning. >> i just want to let you know this was him, not me because i'm with him. he's a tremendous talent. >> reporter: acosta's sudden departure comes less than 48 hours after the labor secretary defended his role the as the attorney in the controversial plea agreement with jeffrey spent 13th prostitution from a minor. >> the goal here was straightforward. put epstein behind bars. >> reporter: acosta today. >> i do not thi

>>while authorities monitor the mississippi river which is expected to crest at 19 feet on saturday, just one foot below the height of the flood wall weather warnings from the sky, the river the gulf, the surge waters water and. >>we've got to fight all 3 of them here but we're ready for. >>in orleans on conner powell kron 4 news. >>and meteorologist mabrisa rodriguez she has been tracked a very. right tropical storm barr new orleans and also along the florida panhandle as well so it is a tropical storm right now with sustained winds at 65 miles per hour. and so far it's not expected to reach hurricane status as it makes landfall tomorrow morning in order to do so it needs to have wind speeds of at least 74 miles per hour and it looks like when it makes landfall saturday morning. it's going have sustained wind speeds at 70 miles per hour. so it will still be considered a tropical storm creating a storm surge of anywhere from 3 to 6 feet throughout the state of louisiana and most of the north gulf coast states. in addition to the mississippi river could see cresting upwards of about 20

the mississippi river has been at flood stage for months now. they've been battling it since late last year. it's been incredibly high since early this year. so, you know, they are pretty confident this system has been tested. and it is holding up just fine. issues with it? of course. could it be better? of course. this is a complicated situation with a low-lying city and a lot of low-lying areas. they are confident that what day have in place will be good enough. >> that's good. the storm is a triple threat as far as the weather goes with the rainfall and the flooding as well. we're going to be checking back in with you later. >> i just wanted to mention that, you know, the rain system that's coming through -- the storm barry that's coming through southern louisiana is going to move its way north and east. there are other states including mississippi, arkansas, and alabama. even tennessee valley could get four to eight inches of rain. we're talking about a significant storm system that can dump rain not just on this area but to the north and ea

a mississippi river well above flood stage and the worst of the storm has yet to hit. tonight the late ng storm. to the south, a surge swallowing whole neighborhoods. barry spinning off high winds and heavy rain. in baton rouge, it brings a scary deja vu. >> i just called my buddy. he said don't wait too long. bring your critters with you. >> reporter: john isn't taking any chances. the last time he left his home in 2016 on a boat. the same storm left 13 people dead and damaged more than 140,000 homes. >> what would you be in three years ago? >> water right here. >> reporter: that high. >> that high. on this little truck. >> reporter: the me ry all too fresh for tim johnson. after a year fixing up what the storm took away, he spent today getting ready for round two. >> it's a start. >> reporter: for many, two flood seasons. w with the tropical storm moving in, many sow sandbag only go so far. >> if we have to get out, we have to get out. i'm not going to deal with it again. >> tonight for those who leave their homes, the city of baton rouge has opened an area shelter.

hi i'm rita what you can see behind me the mississippi river is currently at a normally high levels fool face time all of the year tropical storm barry is moving in with very high winds of 150 kilometers an hour and when it reaches here it's expected to be a category one hurricane now as much as the winds are a worry of course i think the greatest worry here is the water is expected to dump up to hoth a meter of water here on new orleans over the course of the weekend that would be a record not seen in decades and as i mentioned that river the king a rather high at the moment and as such president trump has declared a federal state of emergency across the easy ana and up people coping with the situation there. well here in new orleans it is a flood prone area the ground is already assault and from flooding earlier this week so the sandbags are out in the french quarter many shops are already boarded up of the national guard has deployed over 3000 people to be part of rescue teams with helicopters and rescue boats on standby in louisiana but they certainly will be a test of the flood defe

we are talking about a high risk of flooding through the lower mississippi river valley. rain fall amounts vecould top out at o 25 inches of rain. but generally 10 to 15 inches of rain. either way, lester, it will be really devast with this.g >>> all right, al. thanks. >>> to our other big story breaking, the resignation of presid labor secretary. alex acosta faced harsh criticism for his role in the plea deal in florida in a sex abuse case against jeffrey epstein 11 years ago. our peter alexander has thattory. >> reporter: president trump and alex acosta today walking out of the white house together before that ensurprise announcem acosta was resigning. >> i jus want to let you know this was him, not me because i'm with him. he's a tremendous talent. >> reporter: acosta'su dden departure comes less than 48 hours after the labor secretary defended his role the as the attorney in the controversial plea it agreement wh jeffrey epstein whereps ein spent 13 months behind bars for soliciting prostitution from ami r. >> the goal here was straightforward. put epstein behind bars

plus the mississippi river is 8 feet above normal. barry could drive it to its highest level since 1950 and this warning, ifs expectedt ti that we've had a hurricane make landfall in louisiana while the mississippi river was at flood stage. >> reporter: here in the parish, they say a storm surge pushing the river to 19 feet is life-threatening it would cause the water to overtop, which means the mighty mississippi would spill over this levee, flooding homes those who survived katrina know the danger >> i stuck around a little bit too long during katrina and don't want to make that mistake again. >> reporter: the louisiana national guard has been deployed officials urging residents to have three days of supply on hand >> you've got to be prepared you never know, even if it's a small one, something can happen. >> reporter: what you're looking at here, a plaquer man's parish are giant sand bags they place e in a flood, the water can actually bubble up, adding to the crisis they're doing everything they can to make sure that they have don