Weather Impact Alert: Flash Flood Warning for much of Metro-area

Added: 2026-05-15

[00:00:00]tonight. This is the heaviest over the metro area now. And kind of zooming in, we've got some intense rains or the more intense rains right now on the West Bank. You see just approaching Wagaman at the moment is where we've got some of the most intense of the rainfall. And looking at the the velocities, so a spin in the atmosphere. You do have a little bit of a broad rotation. So nothing that seems to be coming together in terms of a tornado. That does not appear to be the case. But what it is indicating is very strong winds, straight line winds as well as the possibility of hail. So as we kind of look in that particular cell, there is the high likelihood of either P to approaching quarter size hail within this storm over Wagaman. So hail and the strong winds the main culprits for the reasoning behind these issuing of a severe thunderstorm warning. So hail, I'm going to kind of widen out to show you that really is the only area or the little uh hail core within the storm of the more likelihood.

[00:00:58]So Morero to Estelle, more so the West Bank as this storm continues pushing to the east have the chance of seeing the hail. It is possible you might find a little bit in around the say Elmwood area, parts of Harahan and if that does hold together kind of approaching the Riverbend and parts of Uptown. So if that were to hold together kind of around the Black Pearl Riverbend continuing along say the riverfront if the core stays more on the west bank. So again it looks like the possibility of some hail within this storm and this is also where the most intense of the rain is. There is a little notch here. I was showing you kind of that broad rotation.

[00:01:38]Nothing being highlighted by the National Weather Service just yet but it does look like that could be an area of maybe some broad rotation. We'll keep an eye on it as we continue through the rest of this afternoon. A little bit closer in on the metro area. Still some very intense rain from Jefferson Parish now moving deeper into Orleans Parish.

[00:01:56]So, Riverbend kind of a moderate to heavy rainfall over two lane. That will continue into Uptown. Uptown right now more of a light to moderate rainfall.

[00:02:04]Downtown moderate to heavy and that continues out toward UNO and continues out toward or will continue toward the lakefront as well as New Orleans east.

[00:02:13]So these are at least fastm moving storms. You can kind of see the back of it is around Lelass. Few thunderstorms popping up around Lcher, but then note quite a break before you get to some heavier rainfall that is just now moving out of Lla or excuse me, Lafayette. So these are the storms that we're keeping an eye on for the potential of hail and strong winds. We'll keep an eye out if there is any rotation. But you see some of these little what we call bow echoes where the storms seemingly kind of bow out from the main line. These are the areas where you're getting some of the strongest winds. So approaching Jean Lefit as well as the strong winds on the west bank and again the West Bank probably where we're getting some of the strongest winds as well as the higher likelihood of hail within this storm. It is moving quickly so it should not be a complete uh wash out through the rush hour. As a matter of fact, I think a lot of these storms at least over the metro area will be gone before about 5 six o'clock. But it is a Friday, so a lot of folks kind of hitting the roads earlier in the afternoon. So, just be mindful of that if you're going to be headed out on the Northshore where we really didn't have any severe threat, but did did have kind of an ongoing heavy rain threat and still have a few ongoing flash flood warnings. Now, the heavies of the rain that initially prompted those warnings have gone, but still light moderate rainfall not necessarily adding to the potential flash flooding, but certainly not helping. What we see typically is that these flash flood warnings are initially issued when heavy rains either are moving into an area or we've seen that they continue over those same areas and then they usually seem to extend hours after the rains are expected to have already moved out. That's because the warning is keep will stay in place because of just natural drainage. It sometimes takes a few hours for all of those higher areas of water to completely drain. So even as rain clears out, you may still find some areas still under flash flood warnings or street flood advisories only because it does take time for all of that water to completely clear out. That has been the main issue on the Northshore where some of the rainfall total estimates are upwards of 5 in even more so over Livingston Parish. What we saw move into uh Tango Parish, especially South Tangi, was 3 to 5 ines of rainfall. Kind of a band of over 4 and a half inches of rainfall around Folsson and parts of Washington Parish and then continued into Pearl River County. Note south of that line, not much in the way of even much measurable rain around parts of say south of I12 or even around the I12 corridor in St. Tam Parish. Maybe a/ inch to about 3/4 of an inch of rainfall there. So, it was more the heavy rain and constant rain north of the lake that we had the concern of. Southshore, it's more or less the gusty winds, strong sustained winds, not even just gusty, but strong sustained winds, the possibility of hail. And it does look like that little core is generally staying on the West Bank. So, if it does hold together moving toward Bellchase shortly, you also see some rainfall that has been kind of firing up. I'm going to move my computer screen, my computer here a little bit just so you can see around St. Bernard Parish. Some showers are kind of firing up out ahead of this main complex that is now moving across the metro area. And what you'll also notice is our lightning counter goes from over 200 lightning strikes and then actually at one point over 400 lightning strikes down to about 90 or so. So these storms are weakening as they continue pushing uh into the metro area. But that one little core of the more intense rains will be monitored very closely.

[00:05:50]This is the area where you see the deep purple to then almost transitioning to a black color. That is indicating very intense rainfall. Lot of lightning. This is going to be where you have the potential of hail. That's also going to be where you have the potential of some of the strongest winds and most intense rainfall. So you could easily pick up a couple of inches of rainfall in a short period of time. Again, thankfully this storm is moving. It is not just sitting over Wagaman. But it does look like the core may just clip right around the riverfront of Morero and move more toward La Palco and continue down toward Estelle. So it looks like just between Morero and Estelle. This is where the core of that storm will continue. And kind of right behind my computer here, it is going to continue more in the direction of Belchase. So at the moment, that is the most intense storm that we have over the metro area. Not to say that the rains over the east bank and the city aren't heavy. It's just that the core of this is remaining a little bit more offshore or excuse me offshore on the west bank. Looking at rotation uh kind of around Lake Salvador, a little bit of rotation kind of showing up within that. Nothing very well uh defined. Nothing really tight. So this, you know, obviously could overwater areas and kind of over the marshier areas now north of Crown Point could easily see a little water spout within this cell as it continues. Thankfully, what looks to be any rotation within it is more over the marshier areas on the West Bank uh coming from St. Charles Parish and moving into Jefferson Parish.

[00:07:23]Uh but something to watch for certainly around the Estelle to Crown Point area.

[00:07:28]And then as far as hail goes, that has been probably our biggest culprit. kind of a large area within that intense cell of P to quarter size hail within that storm moving right toward Estelle. Does look like a lot of the West Bank uh kind of north of La Palco is probably avoiding any potential larger hail. Not out of the realm of possibility to see maybe some P-siz hail within this cell.

[00:07:54]Looks like it is. We were talking about maybe parts of the East Bank right along the riverfront where it may be. It looks like as that cell kind of weakens a bit and maybe moving a little more south of due east, it is taking the bulk of that hail core a little bit more south of say right along the river or the more populated parts of the west bank, but moving it toward Estelle may stay to the north of Crown Point and then eventually it could if it does hold together maybe right around Belchase shortly.

[00:08:23]with regard to the intense rains, the uh number of lightning strikes, and this is always a great measure of whether or not storms are intensifying or weakening.

[00:08:33]And at one point, what had been over 500 lightning strikes, that has significantly dropped. So, these storms are weakening. So, that's one good thing, but they do still pack quite a punch as they continue toward and through the West Bank at this hour.

[00:08:49]Right now, getting some heavy rainfall here in the French Quarter. more moderate to heavy rain across much of the city. But as I mentioned, widening out our radar uh scope here. Uh there is going to be then a break and we'll see whether or not these storms out toward New Iberia moving toward uh kind of through the Aafalai Basin if they do hold together. Doesn't look like they're going to take a trajectory that would bring them onto the southshore. More likely a path that would keep them on the northshore if they do hold together.

[00:09:18]And then beyond that, we can actually switch over to satellite uh to see if there's any building of additional storms out farther west and there is not. So you've had this complex that have been moving through some lightning right around the Aaffalia basin and then we do get a break and that has been the trend for most of our computer models that after about 7 8:00 most of the rain gone. The intense rains that we have over the city right now should be gone within about an hour at the most kind of including all of the metro area out toward New Orleans, east parts of St. Bernard Parish. This should be gone within the hour or or within an hour, not the hour, still be around after 4:00, but at least these are moving very quickly. So, the ongoing severe thunderstorm warning and the ongoing flash flood where we see maybe rising water in some areas of the city should start to settle within the next uh 20 30 minutes or so. Then it just takes some time if there has been any flooding for all of that water to recede. I'm going to see if I'm going to leave it on our radar imagery here and I'm going to jump over to another one of our computers so I can look to see if we are getting any reports of flooding.

[00:10:29]Let's see here if I can get any reports of flooding over.

[00:10:35]>> No. Okay.

[00:10:43]>> Okay. 71 mph wind gust was recorded.

[00:10:45]This is Alexa Trisher off camera talking to me. Uh that was in uh Caner if Yeah, if the director can bring up Alexa's mic if that's possible. Um, we're looking at uh we've got Alexa in the weather center looking at some of the data coming in from the National Weather Service office and then I'm looking at kind of our street wise NOLA because they will report if there's any. Let's see. I don't want to see. Okay, there are some reported no current flooding reports into the Nola Streetwise. So, that's good. Uh, that's good. At least as of right now, no reports of any flooding over the metro area. switch back over to our radar computer so I can kind of zoom back in on the metro area again. What ongoing rain and this the flash flooding on the Northshore. A lot of that has started to wayne already. Still ongoing rainfall, yes, but not the intense rains that prompted those uh flash flood warnings a little bit earlier. So again, zooming a little bit closer into the city, there's that core with likely hail moving right over Estelle at this hour.

[00:11:49]intense rains over parts of the city, but thankfully, at least as of right now into the Nola Streetwise, no reports of any flooding. A lot of those are automated, but at least in some of those underpasses, nothing being reported yet.

[00:12:02]And hopefully there aren't any because, as I said, these storms, one, are weakening as we've been watching them approach the city, and two, they're not going to last all afternoon long. This is not going to be an ongoing issue through rush hour. Now, that's not to say we won't see still some areas of standing or ponding of water at rush hour. I'm talking more toward the 5:00 hour. It won't be the intense rains that we're dealing with right now. Let's get these in and out. Unfortunately, though, at this hour, it is a little bit more of a a problem for folks picking up their kids from school, including my kids.

[00:12:33]They're dealing with that heavy rainfall. Hopefully though at least much of the city were able to get the kids out of school right around the 3 3:15 before these storms rolled in. But they are moving very quickly. That one little core is still holding together over Estelle at this hour. But even that the lightning has dramatically reduced and that is said always a good indicator of whether or not storms are intensifying or weakening is looking at the amount of lightning. So that kind of is key to telling us what the trend of these storms is. And these are weakening as they approach the Belchase area. So we'll look back at the uh rotation indicator and it looks like kind of some broad areas. Again, you get strong thunderstorms, they are going to broadly rotate. It's whether or not that rotation can kind of solidify itself, tighten up, and then make it down to the surface as to whether or not you would see a water spout or a tornado. So unless that happens, a strong thunderstorm, you kind of expect it to rotate. That's what a supercell thunderstorm is. You anticipate that there is going to be some rotation, but it looks like most of that again is kind of where the core of that intense storm is still down toward Jean Levi. So again, very marshy areas wouldn't be out of the realm of possibilities to see that there is a uh a water spout though none being reported into the National Weather Service office. Nor are they reporting that uh based on their algorithms from their uh radar system from the radar system.

[00:14:00]Again, as far as hail goes, it still does look like we might have the P to quarter size right over Estelle. So, we're seeing that any potential even smaller hail moving farther away from the river. So, Woodhead Ben a possibility around the Harahan area, uh, Elmwood, and then toward the Riverbend, parts of Uptown is now even farther south and even right along the West Bank, uh, shoreline, West Bank, uh, populated area and a little bit more south of there. So around Estelle and Jean Lefit maybe getting in on some of that hail and again if it does hold together could make its way toward Belchase. If it does keep moving a little bit more south than due east uh then perhaps it does avoid Belchase altogether or maybe just clips with some smaller P-siz hail. P-size hail not going to do any damage. Usually we start warning about any kind of quarter size because that's going to be the hail that could do some minor damage if again holds together. Well, you just saw it kind of broadened out a little bit and it has been a little bit more south than due east. So, I would venture to say if by the next image here for the hail possibility, it may maybe not altogether avoid Bell Chase, but Belchase may avoid the uh potential largest of the hail, maybe shifting a little bit more toward uh Dalor and down toward Jesuit Bend if again that cell holds together. But it has been weakening. So that is one uh positive and kind of interesting where you see that potential for hail is actually not within some of the heaviest of the rainfall which the more intense rains are right around Lalco uh Walkertown uh parts of Baritary Boulevard already through or still moving out of West and north of Estelle.

[00:15:44]So this is where we have some of the more intense rains uh within this kind of complex of storms moving through. I'm listening to the rain here on our rooftop in the French Quarter. Uh not nearly as intense, but even here in the quarter, we do have a little pocket kind of a little band of some intense rainfall, but that actually just weakened a bit. So, these storms are on a weakening trend.

[00:16:06]You saw a lightning counter. Again, at one time had been over 500 lightning strikes, now down into the 50s to 70s.

[00:16:12]So, these storms continue to weaken as they push deeper through the metro area as we head uh later into the afternoon and evening. And then the good news is these storms will be coming to an end. I think all of the rainfall between 7 8:00. We should see uh more of a settled night tonight. Now, there may be a chance for more rain tomorrow morning into the midday hours and then much of the afternoon and evening for our Saturday does look dry. We'll likely have more rain around on Mother's Day, but neither Saturday nor Sunday appearing to be a complete wash out.

[00:16:47]Yes, we'll have the chance for rain.

[00:16:49]Yes, both days also have the chance for low-end threat, severe weather, kind of like what we've seen now where you might have one or two cells that have gusty winds, maybe some small hail associated.

[00:17:00]So, you might see tomorrow and Sunday a couple of new or a couple of severe thunderstorm warnings issued there. also the possibility of some of these type cells that develop today where you get heavy rainfall rates in a short period of time and you do see some street flooding or flash flooding issued uh for the storm. So both Saturday and Sunday we're keeping weather impact alerts up for the threat mainly for heavy rainfall kind of secondary to that would be some isolated strong or severe storms. Not nearly as much lightning over the city.

[00:17:30]In fact, most of the thunder and lightning is on the West Bank. It might be right around uh kind of nearing the Irish channel with some lightning, but most of it is within that more intense storm over Estelle at this hour. And it does look like the more intense rains will be moving toward Belchase, but our hail indications are saying it's a little bit more the hail core maybe a little bit more south of where we're seeing the intense rains right now. So, West Bank is getting the heaviest of the rainfall. Still pretty heavy though around the city and obviously not ideal to those folks that were leaving work a little bit earlier on this Friday afternoon. As we head later into the evening though, the weather will be settled. So for folks that might have plans for dinner later tonight, we're actually going to see a period of us drying out. Uh one bad image on radar.

[00:18:18]So I'm going to go back and kind of animate this because sometimes you kind of get a missing image there on radar.

[00:18:24]It's not that it's just gone, it's sometimes kind of a bad image. And so what we're getting in on the Northshore or continuing on the Northshore is more of this light moderate just kind of steady rain. There are some breaks here and there, but this will be ongoing for the next hour or so, probably maybe almost two hours before all of this is gone. You do start to see some clearing near Walker and toward Baton Rouge.

[00:18:48]Another little batch though could be moving in from Lafayette. uh that if it holds together, although kind of watching that trend as well, is one that is weakening. So hopefully this does continue to weaken. Again, looks like it'll take more of a path that would take it uh south of Baton Rouge and eventually onto the Northshore if it is able to hold together. And then the model trend and the radar trend as we've been seeing this in real time is for most of these storms to settle throughout the night tonight. And I'm going to ask uh Alexa if we're seeing anything from the National Weather Service office just as we >> there has been a report of pingpong balls sized hail in St. Charles from a little while ago.

[00:19:26]>> Okay. So that was when the storms were far more intense.

[00:19:28]>> Yeah, that was from earlier. I'm not sure if you can hear me on air, but yeah, we can. Okay, good. Yeah, one and a half inch size hail reported in St. Charles Parish just a little while ago, but no reports of any flooding yet, which is good news. checking in on street wise on the map and there are no reported uh flooding incidents on our roadways yet, but sometimes there is a delay in the system. Correct. Um but uh like we've been talking about the the ground has been pretty dry which which helps out a bit on the southshore.

[00:19:53]Certainly could use the rain, but it is coming down, you know, in buckets, extremely heavy, so there will be some nuisance puddles and ponding on your evening commute. So you are going to be going slower on your way home tonight.

[00:20:04]It's not going to be as quick as your typical evening commute because there will be still some standing water like Chris had mentioned with this uh really torrential rain that's coming from this thunderstorm. But thankfully is gradually weakening uh you know in due time. Still talking heavy rain in the metro area on uh uh the West Bank too, especially down the down the bayou a bit down the Southshore um from the city down to Jean Lefit and quite a bit of lightning and really some torrential rain both sides of the Mississippi River at this point.

[00:20:33]>> Yes. And like you'd mentioned, that's a good point with the ongoing drought.

[00:20:37]While the ground is still pretty dry, intense rains are not going to get just absorbed that quickly, but the fact that it is dry should help to kind of speed up the drying process. We've actually seen improvements in our drought on the Northshore when the drought monitor came out yesterday. Uh really no change south of the lake, so the ground still very dry on the southshore. So these big soaking rains are beneficial. does help to kind of replenish the aquafers.

[00:21:04]However, it doesn't just absorb it that quick. It does take a little bit of time. However, with the ground having been so dry, it's we're far from being saturated. We should see uh a lot of the areas clear out fairly quickly. And again, street wise based in the city of New Orleans, no reported street flooding yet, but uh as Alexa mentioned, sometimes that does take a little bit of time to completely come into their system. So, uh we will see if we do get any. hopefully none. A lot of those are automated sites. Uh a lot of the underpasses that you're very familiar with do have sensors where water gets to a certain height that will signal uh the street wise system and we will get the notification that there is being um a street flood reported. But it is also uh manually updated where if uh the city emergency management office is getting that information, they will update it on the website as well. But one thing that we do have in real time is the National Weather Service office chat. And I'm just looking for uh I'm just looking at information uh uh from the National Weather Service office. Someone uh with the American Red Cross is saying that they're receiving a couple calls of damage and trees on homes. Uh one in Hammond and one in Baton Rouge. The Red Cross is actually sending out crews to verify these. So, we don't have any specifics on the location of those or any damage. Uh, but we're getting reports of possible uh damage or trees on homes maybe in Hammond and Baton Rouge. Again, this is as initial as the information can get. So, these are not yet confirmed uh even by the American Red Cross, but they're in our chat group as well to notify us of information they received. So they're saying that there could be uh some home damage possibly from a tree in Hammond, but they that was uh sent about a minute ago. So that's uh the kind of base report. Uh also getting uh at the new canal station on the lakefront uh wind gust of 38 m an hour. 30 miles an hour. Not really going to do much in the way of damage. Uh but just indicating that these had been associated with some strong winds uh as the storms have been pushing into the metro area and thankfully though are weakening as we continue through this afternoon. But for those of you watching us at the moment again, Northshore not completely ignoring you, but it's been kind of an ongoing heavy rain issue from earlier. Last couple of hours it has been more of this light moderate rain.

[00:23:37]still have those flash flood warnings up. They will stay up likely until they are anticipated to expire. And Alexa, I can't just offhand see when do those expire. The flash flood warnings on the Northshore.

[00:23:49]>> Northshore. Let me just double check.

[00:23:52]They do expire at uh 9 9:30, I believe, or 98. I'm doing a a quick time conversion here. UTC to >> 2120 19 >> uh at 5:30 tonight.

[00:24:06]>> Okay. So, they'll be they'll likely be left up. Again, even though we're not seeing conditions on the Northshore worsen with regard to those flash flood warnings, we will likely see those warnings stay in place only because, as I said, even as the heavy rain moves out for a flash flood warning, those warnings usually linger another couple of hours beyond >> 4:30.

[00:24:25]>> 4:30. Okay. So, 4:30. So, they'll expire in a half hour. I don't think we're going to see any new ones there, but those will stay in place. Even though you might think, well, why am I still under a warning if the rain if the heavy rain is gone and sometimes you're still under a warning even when it's completely dry? That's because we just give it a couple of hours or I should say the weather service gives it a couple of hours for all of that standing water to then eventually clear. And usually that buffer is a couple of hours after the heavier rains have gone. We might need to give ourselves sometimes a little bit more of a buffer in the metro area as we can easily see street flooding with sometimes very minimal rainfall. The intensity of the rains though on the south or on the uh southshore east bank have been steadily decreasing. Even that heavier cell which is trying to hold together move toward Belchase now is also much much weaker than it had been. But you do have very heavy rainfall on the west bank from Estelle. Uh not quite toward Alier's point. More of a moderate rain but uh between Estelle moving then toward Bell Chase. uh Braithweight going to be getting in on some of that heavier rainfall as well as the storms continue from then Plaeman's into uh St. Bernard Parish. Uh if it does hold it into St. Bernard Parish, you might see some of that heavier rain move toward Miro Violet uh Crown Point, Jean Leit in JP.

[00:25:44]Uh that heavy rainfall there now some lightning, gusty winds, but certainly not the intensity that we had from a little while ago. So, the good news is as these storms are rolling through, one hopefully no confirmed damage anywhere.

[00:25:59]We do need the I know you're probably here tired of hearing us say we do need the rain, but every time the drought monitor comes out, we don't really see dramatic improvements in it. So, we still could use some rainfall and we're getting plenty of it right now over the metro area too. These have not been nearly as intense as they were coming at us from uh say the northern bayou river parishes. They were a bit more intense once they moved into the city. they were far weaker. Not to downplay what we had moved through the river parishes, but thankfully no reports of any damage there. And so had we seen that, we did have the one uh pingpong ball size hail report in St. Charles Parish from earlier. Uh that looked to never be the case as these storms moved out of St. Charles into JP and then parts of Orleans though it really stayed more on the west bank of JP and now continuing into northern Plaemen's Parish. and two, the winds are not nearly as strong as they had been either. So, what had been a fairly heavy cell far weaker as it continues into uh both sides of the river this afternoon. And as I again widen out, we do see a break. Now, that isn't always telling the whole story.

[00:27:05]I'm actually going to show you visible satellite because it shows you where we get the intense thunderstorms building into the atmosphere. You had some big storms over parts of the central uh central Louisiana. I know kind of hard to see with the uh the white borders as well as the white cloud cover, but you had the more intense clouds over central or the more intense thunderstorms, the taller cloud tops in central Louisiana.

[00:27:29]That is what prompted the flash flooding on the Northshore. You had not necessarily training of rain, but it was a long line of heavy rain that stayed on the Northshore through this afternoon and uh or through midday and into the afternoon. wasn't nearly as intense, but there was that little complex or the complexes that have been moving on to the southshore at this hour. And then as we look beyond that, there isn't nearly the intense storms of from earlier out to our west. So the storms themselves overall are weakening. And as I said, the radar trend is keeping up with what the computer models have said. Sometimes the computer models are only as good as the data that is being entered into them. And the radar trend is following what the models say or I should say the models are following with what the radar trend has been that these storms will continue to weaken. And by later this evening after about 7 8:00 there may still be a few showers. So if you're going to be headed out to dinner around 67 I would my kids are probably joking about 67 joke right now but anyway um although they said that's not a joke anymore. They will start to see maybe some lingering rainfall. The intense rains later into the night tonight are not going to be nearly as uh uh intense and we should see us kind of continuing a drying trend through the rest of the night tonight. So, still some very heavy rainfall over the metro area. Kind of a quick update though for the rest of the weekend. We may see kind of similar setups like this where there will be periods where we do get heavy rainfall.

[00:29:00]There may be periods of a severe thunderstorm here or there. Doesn't look like it's going to be all day Saturday.

[00:29:06]does not look like it's going to be all day on Sunday either, but definitely both days have the chance of and lowend chance of severe storms as well as some more heavy flooding rain. Exactly where those set up, difficult to say. The good news though is that we do have a stronger cold front on the horizon, but that doesn't move in until early Monday morning, but with it, we should see less humid air with us throughout most of next week. High temperatures still upper 70s into the 80s next week. So, not exactly a big cool down, but kind of near average or just below average for much of the week, as well as drier air making it feel a whole lot nicer. So, the ongoing severe thunderstorm for uh the metro area obviously not really an issue in St. Charles uh St. John or St. John St. Charles. much of JP at least on the east bank really not in the severe the more severity of the storm it's really more along this leading edge now so and actually some of this is already outside of the previously warned area so for all intents and purposes those that are still under the severe thunderstorm warning the threat is just about gone for you as the leading edge is now just about either outside of or right beyond the eastern side of this warned area intense rains from Belchase down toward Jean Lef. These storms though have been weakening and will continue to do so.

[00:30:32]And it does look like for the rest of the evening and night we will be drying out. Stay with us for WW Louisiana News at 4.

[00:30:51]Good afternoon and thanks for sticking with us on the WWL Louisiana News at 4.

[00:30:54]I'm Devon Bartalada and here are today's top headlines. Right now, we are monitoring a weather impact alert with severe thunderstorms and flash floods possible for some. It is really coming down as we look live across the area.

[00:31:06]You can hear it here at our studios in the French Quarter and see it here on our cameras. In New Orleans, neutral ground parking restrictions have been lifted. So, let's get right on over to your forecast with meteorologist Alexa Trish. Alexa, I know you guys are covering a lot and watching a lot right now, >> right? Yeah, we do have that ongoing flash flood warning in effect for the New Orleans metro area right now and a severe thunderstorm warning. But luckily, the storms have been weakening overall over the last several minutes, but we still have heavy soaking showers in the New Orleans metro, both sides of the Mississippi River. Some pretty significant amount of lightning that has been uh striking over the last, you know, over the last several minutes with this storm. But luckily, the amount of lightning has been gradually weakening.

[00:31:46]You can see just how much lightning was coming through the river parishes and the metro area. And you can see there are less uh light lightning strikes and that indicates that the storm is weakening. But we still have some heavy soaking downpours in New Orleans right now and in Jefferson Parish and down the bayou a bit. On the Northshore, we still have some steady and soaking rain, too.

[00:32:05]But the flash flood warnings that were in effect this afternoon have expired.

[00:32:09]But you'll still have some at least big puddles and ponding in a few spots north of the lake for the next several hours.

[00:32:16]As the rain continues to fall, there could be some localized flooding and some standing water. So, make sure you are driving carefully if you're north of the lake into South Mississippi. Also, make sure you are driving carefully for your evening commute home in the New Orleans metro area with this strong thunderstorm rolling in right now. But the storm itself has been weakening over the last several minutes. We still have some heavy downpours that we have to deal with for probably the next hour or so across the Southshore and some lightning and maybe even some small hail, but the storm itself is gradually weakening. Make sure you're driving carefully. We are going to be tracking more storms throughout the course of your Mother's Day weekend. We'll have all the details about this soggy weekend coming up in just a bit. All right, thank you so much, Alexa. And more top stories today rather. At exactly 12:54 this afternoon, a fire erupted at Shelat Refining. We know that timing based on the security camera video. that you can see here sent in to us by a viewer and it shows the moment this all happened.

[00:33:08]Several residents in the area also have said that they heard and felt the explosion. Meg Ferris arrived at the refinery shortly after we started getting calls. And Meg, what can you tell us about the state of things right now?

[00:33:32]Take a look at some of the video that we were getting from viewers um different people with cell phones around the time of how big the fire was with flames and black smoke. Now, we are told the good news is that the refinery response team and then the St. Bernard Fire Department got right on it right away. There were no injuries. There were no schools that had to be evacuated, but the juvenile correctional um facility right next door was evacuated just as a precaution. Of course, about an hour or so later, all those pe um juveniles were back in that facility. Now, the fire is still burning, but it's under control. We are told they're not sure what caused it, what happened, what caused the explosion, or why it burned. We're also told that no one has to wear masks in the area that DEEQ is monitoring. no environmental issues, but St. Bernard Fire said it took less than 10 minutes by the time they arrived there to get everything completely under control.

[00:34:32]Now, take a listen to what some people at Rocky and Carlos heard.

[00:34:36]>> We heard an explosion. We thought either the air condition blew up because the doors were shaking, the front doors were shaking, everybody looked up and all of a sudden they all went in through the side door and left. And then I went outside. I saw the fire.

[00:34:50]>> Very loud explosion.

[00:34:53]Initially I thought it was electrical transformer but then we saw smoke coming from the refinery but it did shake the building pretty good and um a lot of people felt the uh the impact from that blast.

[00:35:10]>> Now the parish president tells us that nothing is closed because of this um uh what happened in one unit even though we don't know what burned or what happened.

[00:35:20]So, shift workers still, as far as he knew, had to report to work over the weekend, if they are working over the weekend. We did ask him about why the alarms or the sirens inside of the refinery did not go off and he said they're investigating. He did not know why. Reporting live from Shiaet, Meg Ferris, WWL Louisiana. Devin.

[00:35:42]>> All right, Meg, thank you so much. There is some good news there for sure. No one was injured and we're going to continue to follow this developing story. You can always find the latest on our website, our social media, and our app for your phone or TV.

[00:36:00]>> That was this morning. Protesters filled the halls of the state capital in Baton Rouge, fueled by lawmakers attempting to redraw congressional maps. Now, multiple bills are being discussed.

[00:36:10]>> Remind them that we're the number of majority black congressional districts in Louisiana. We're not expecting any of them to be voted on today, but if any are approved, it would likely impact the balance of power in Washington DC. And Lily Cummings will bring us the latest from Baton Rouge later in the show. Here in New Orleans, the city council plans to name an interim clerk of court.

[00:36:30]That's in response to the new state law eliminating Calvin Duncan's position as clerk of criminal court, combining his office with the civil clerk's office.

[00:36:39]The council also plans to call a special election to elect a permanent clerk. A council meeting has been called for Monday. Of course, we'll keep you updated. And new this afternoon, the New Orleans Police Department is changing how it reviews payroll and overtime.

[00:36:53]Starting May 10th, NOPD plans to use biometric timekeeping for scheduled shifts and overtime assignments, require overtime approval in advance, and establish clearer supervisory review responsibilities. Superintendent Anne Kirkpatrick says this will lead to more accountability and confirmed that at least one officer is being investigated for his timekeeping practices.

[00:37:16]We are nearly finished with early voting for the May 16th election and there are five amendments to the Louisiana Constitution that voters will have to make a choice on. We're covering them one at a time so you can make an informed choice. Amendment question two will look like this and it is asking if you support an amendment that is specifically about creating a new school district in the Baton Rouge area. There are a lot of local Baton Rouge politics at play here. So here is the background as laid out by nonpartisan organization PAR Louisiana. Back in 2019, some voters in East Baton Rouge Parish created the city of St. George. It's made of about 86,000 people who lived in previously unincorporated areas southeast of Baton Rouge. Now, while most of Louisiana school systems are parishwide, this amendment would allow the schools in St. George to separate from the East Baton Rouge Parish School System and become their own district. Critics say this will cost the state and East Baton Rouge Parish Schools millions of dollars and will disadvantage students in the parish's district. Those in favor of Amendment Two say it will allow for more local control and more opportunity for the schools in St. George. St. George would not be the first community to do this. most recently, Central Community School System, separated from the East Baton Rouge Parish School System in the early 2000s. So, a vote yes on amendment two would allow for the creation of St. George Community School System in East Baton Rouge Parish. A vote no would keep those schools within the district of East Baton Rouge Parish schools. We're going to be covering each amendment one at a time until we've got all five of them covered. And you can find more election information in our voter guide on wwltv.com, including when the polls are open, where to find your polling place, and what is on your ballot. Looking ahead now, the forecast is causing some of tomorrow's events to be postponed or cancelled.

[00:39:02]That includes the annual Huey Pong Bridge Run. Around 2,000 participants were set to shut down the roadway starting at 8 in the morning. Instead, they will be staying dry inside, and the bridge will stay open to drivers. If you did plan to run, you can pick up your packet until 6 at the Auster in Elmwood or you can swing by on Monday from 4 to 6 and you'll get a $20 credit to a future race. But the rain will not stop Aita Brewing from Brew Brewing Company, excuse me, from celebrating 40 years.

[00:39:31]Tomorrow they're hosting a party at their Chapatula Street location. It starts at noon and you can catch performances from Sunnyside Jazz Band, Brassaholics, and more. Plus, multiple food trucks and local craft vendors will be on hand, too. It is free and open to all ages. And in case you forgot, Sunday is Mother's Day. You might be thinking about getting mom some flowers or taking her out to dinner. But what do most moms say they actually want? Half say they wish they had someone who helped more often. 70% say if they have to ask, they'd rather just do it themselves. One in four say they have less than two hours alone each week. and 42% wish they could focus more on their mental health.

[00:40:12]Still to come on the WWL Louisiana News at 4, more on a special investigation.

[00:40:16]Katie Moore looks more into issues at the NOPD crime lab despite the building being only a few years old. And later, a new jobs report is out. Why some numbers were better than expected.

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[00:43:12]>> Welcome back. The New Orleans Police Department's crime lab opened in 2022, but it still doesn't have a functioning DNA lab. The director has been working to get it up and running by 2027, but the building itself has been a problem.

[00:43:24]Investigator Katie Moore looks into the issues. The NOPD's new crime lab stands five stories tall on Gravier Street behind the criminal courthouse at Two Lane and Broad. Officials opened it in late 2022. But just weeks after the building was finished, workers started emailing their superiors about problems with water intrusion, mold, vibrations in the building, interrupting ballistics testing. The design of this building may be an even bigger problem than the construction and HVAC issues. Mayor Latoya Cantrell even admitted that in a news conference here in 2024. Mayor Latoya Cantrell admitted as much in this April 2024 news conference announcing 4 million in new federal dollars for crime lab equipment. She said this design was done before she took office. These plans are dated June 6th, 2018. We learned very quickly as we started to again hit that ground that the design although had made it to 100% really wouldn't be adequate in terms of serving this community.

[00:44:32]>> She made the call to build the building anyway >> but we had to make tough decisions. Do we redesign although it city had already spent the money to design?

[00:44:44]uh do we uh then find additional resources for a redesign or do we move forward ensuring that we're doing what we said we would do to our partners at the federal government and demonstrate that the city of New Orleans is focusing on utilizing the federal dollars to make this city whole.

[00:45:06]>> Sources with knowledge of the problem say the building wasn't wired properly for needed technology. And not only is the HVAC system causing water problems, it wasn't designed for scientific labs that can't have air blown into them from the outside. Now, the city is spending $9 million more to renovate a 4-year-old DNA floor to try and get it up and running by 2027. City Council member Leslie Harris has led the effort to get the DNA lab open as soon as possible.

[00:45:37]She questioned the crime lab director, Dr. Shemica Kelly about it at a criminal justice committee meeting last September.

[00:45:44]>> Dr. Kelly.

[00:45:45]>> Yes, ma'am.

[00:45:46]>> Um, where are what's our timeline? I know it keeps shifting. I know that there's some additional renovations that you need to make as well as hiring up.

[00:45:55]So, what where are we now with the timeline on getting our DNA lab up and running?

[00:46:00]>> So, from my initial assessment in 2023, it was 2027.

[00:46:04]>> Again, that 9 million is just for the DNA floor. It won't cover all the renovation the building needs. I scoured through 600 pages of emails exchanged between the NOPD, the Cantrell administration, and the contractors about the building to figure out what was going on. Last July, Kelly emailed Harris, Chief Anne Kirkpatrick, and staff a laundry list of problems with the building. Among them, the HVAC, building vibrations, interrupting ballistics testing on the fifth floor, improperly installed eyewash stations, the mold, and more. Quote, "While I do not have the precise cost estimates for constructing a new building, architectural engineers recently provided an estimate of $9 million to renovate the DNA floor to meet operational standards. Their broader assessment suggests that the remaining floors would also require renovation.

[00:47:02]Given the $9 million cost for just the fourth floor, it may be more cost-effective to construct a new crime laboratory and repurpose the existing building. Harris asked Chief Kirkpatrick about it during this year's budget hearings.

[00:47:17]>> I was going to ask you specifically about not only staffing, but the physical building. I know that there's have been some issues. My understanding from property management is that we're going to try to go after the contractor um who built the the facility to make sure that they're bearing the burden of the cost of those repairs.

[00:47:36]>> But we even looked at it should this lab move there, you know, or do you spend the money to rehab the building that you are in right now? So, I'm mindful of are there better ways where we could save money if it meant even a move to a different facility.

[00:47:54]>> I asked Harris her thoughts about it in our interview this week.

[00:47:58]>> My thought is that we are in a budget crisis and we cannot repurpose a new building. We need to make sure that we can get the CNA lab up and running. Um, and so again, if we can recoup it from the people who initially constructed the building and designed the building, I think that's what we need to do. But I don't see a full overhaul of this building or construction of a new building anytime soon.

[00:48:21]>> I also asked the NOPD three times to interview Kirk Patrick and Kelly about the building. They declined, instead releasing this statement to me.

[00:48:30]Spokesman Reese Harper said, quote, "We are currently planning a renovation of the fourth floor that will address infrastructure and design limitations, including ventilation, air handling, and overall laboratory layout. These improvements will support forensic operations, align with quality assurance standards, and allow for continued staffing expansion, including dedicated space for COTUS functions. In the interim, temporary solutions such as supplemental cooling systems are in place and functioning as intended to maintain the continuity of operations.

[00:49:03]>> You can't half step on a DNA lab. You got to pay full price. You got to get the right people. You got to pay them.

[00:49:10]You got to retain them. And you got to keep that equipment up to standard. And you got to maintain your accreditation.

[00:49:16]It is a big task, but it's a task that the city of New Orleans has done before and needs to do again sooner than later.

[00:49:22]Despite the challenges, Kelly appears confident the DNA lab will be accredited and up and running by the end of next year.

[00:49:33]Now, in a statement, the city told Katie, quote, "The original HVAC systems failed and a temporary unit is installed on the building. We have two new units on order that have a scheduled delivery for July. Once the new systems are installed, a new test and balance will be done, and this should help address the appearance of mold. We've had an environmental test company in test inside the facility and remediation was done in the areas as directed.

[00:50:00]We've had some pretty bad storms across the area this afternoon. We have ongoing heavy rain on the southshore across the metro. A flash flood warning still in effect for the New Orleans metro area.

[00:50:10]Still some steady and soaking rain on the Northshore into South Mississippi, too. Luckily, the storms were much stronger just about an hour ago. The storms are weakening, which is a good sign, but we still have to deal with some localized street flooding for your evening commute. There will be still some big puddles and ponding on our roadways. Even as these storms do start to wind down, however, we have heavy rain still falling in Belchase into St. Bernard Parish, through New Orleans East, even through Uptown and the French Quarter. Some heavy soaking downpours now. Bit of lightning, too, south of Belchase and in Belchase right now. Some brief gusts of wind probably around 20 to 30 miles per hour. But it's really the heavy soaking downpours that will create certainly a nuisance for the drive home this evening. And down the bay you have some steady and soaking showers in a few spots. Homeless seeing a bit of rain into Raceland, but the heaviest of the rain happening in the New Orleans metro area, New Orleans east through Shaltt down to Belchase and Jean Lefit as well. Closer look at the city of New Orleans and back towards Jefferson Parish. Things are starting to lighten up in Kennor and Mey. Certainly seeing less of a heavy rain threat right now as the storm shifts more to the east, but still talking soaking showers across the city of New Orleans into Shia met at this point. Heading over onto the Northshore, all of the warnings that we had have expired. That's a good thing.

[00:51:26]But we still have some moderate to steady heavy rain in a few spots.

[00:51:30]Bogalooa seeing some steady and soaking showers. Slidel has a little bit of heavy rain too into South Mississippi.

[00:51:36]So make sure you are driving carefully.

[00:51:37]There could still be some leftover ponding and big puddles on our roadways on the northshore, too. Some heavier showers in Tangaho Parish. Uh wider look at satellite. This big area of storms that we've been dealing with this afternoon and even starting earlier this morning is shifting more to the east and also gradually weakening as it does, which is a good sign. And then off to the west, there is nothing. So, that's also a good sign. However, as we head into the weekend, we're still going to be stuck in a stormy pattern because we've got ample moisture across the Gulf Coast. This stalled stationary front and an upper disturbance headed our way. So, yeah, we have the rain now, but we'll likely still have more rain to come in waves throughout tomorrow and Sunday.

[00:52:17]So, going into later tonight, storms will be winding down. We get a break for a little while overnight, but we pick it up again this weekend. So, we have a weather impact alert from now through Sunday because we could see this again tomorrow. Some localized flooding concerns are possible tomorrow. Isolated severe storms are also poss possible tomorrow, too. So, we'll be watching that closely. Make sure you have our WWL app so you can get the latest updates, the latest alerts. Keep your plans flexible, your rain gear handy this weekend. You can always check on our app, the live radar, to see where the storms are setting up. Taking a live look outside on Bourbon Street. People have their ponchos and their umbrellas.

[00:52:52]The rain was really coming down just a few seconds ago, a few minutes ago. And now showing you the latest here outside.

[00:52:59]It's not as heavy, so that's good.

[00:53:00]Things are starting to calm down a bit and it's getting a bit cooler with the rain. It's still pretty sticky though and humid. The rest of tonight's going to feel mild and humid getting into this weekend. An upper disturbance heads our way with ample moisture still in place.

[00:53:12]I still think we're going to have to deal with some rounds of heavy soaking showers at times through tomorrow. It's not until early in the work week we have a pattern change. a real cold front comes in and dry air comes in going into the work week ahead. So, here's the rest of your Friday evening. More scattered soaking showers for the next couple of hours, but by like 700 p.m. tonight, we should be dry. So, later this evening, we're dry. We're pretty dry overnight, but then tomorrow, we pick it up again.

[00:53:36]Scattered showers and storms coming in tomorrow, throughout the late morning, and into the course of the afternoon, possibly even lingering into tomorrow evening. We'll have to watch for some street flooding possible tomorrow and one or two stronger storms. There could be an isolated severe storm tomorrow.

[00:53:51]Then later tomorrow night, we take a break. Again, we stay dry overnight into Sunday morning. But Sunday for Mother's Day, plan for some more scattered showers and storms throughout the course of the morning and into the afternoon.

[00:54:02]So, more wet weather even into Sunday and possibly even into early Monday.

[00:54:06]It's not until later Monday we finally dry up. We'll be watching for some street flooding and isolated severe storms this weekend and then next week looking forward to much quieter weather.

[00:54:30]sponsored by Gordon Mccernan injury attorneys.

[00:54:37]I'm Brianna Budro, WL Louisiana Morning News anchor, Saintan and proud girl mom.

[00:54:43]I love preparing you for the day ahead with the latest headlines. From the financial challenges we face or the breaking news from Slidel to Morero and everywhere in between, we've got you covered. Because when news moves fast, you need a team that moves with you.

[00:54:58]Make the move to New Orleans number one streaming morning newscast. Weekdays live from 5 to 9 anywhere you watch.

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[00:57:19]Welcome back. And today's story is impacting your wallet. Sunday is Mother's Day, but this year's gift is probably going to cost you if you're take if you're planning to take her to a nice dinner. An analysis by the Wells well, excuse me, by Wells Fargo shows it'll be about 4% more expensive than last year than there are the flowers and the chocolates. They are great staples, but the prices are up more than 7% this year, according to coupon follow. That same analysis also found perfume and greeting cards are fairing a little better, but they've still seen a jump of about 1% since last year. Meanwhile, new jobs numbers were released this morning and they are much stronger than expected. Employment edged up about 115,000 last month while unemployment was unchanged at 4.3%.

[00:58:03]But when it comes to jobs, what is the biggest factor in laying people off?

[00:58:07]Here's today's money moment with Brianna Budro.

[00:58:12]>> Money moments on four.

[00:58:17]We talked about AI yesterday for your money moment and we're doing it again today because for the second straight month, artificial intelligence is the top reason for layoffs.