Louisiana Braces for Tropical Storm

Tropical Storm Cindy began moving ashore Tuesday night, drenching the Louisiana coast with heavy rain and winds up to 70 mph.

A tropical storm warning was posted from Morgan City, La., to Destin in the Florida Panhandle.

St. Bernard Parish Sheriff’s Office spokesman Capt. Mike Sanders said the low-lying coastal parish had seen worse, but residents were keeping a watchful eye on the storm -- as well as Tropical Storm Dennis, which was brewing in the Caribbean.

Dennis was expected to become a hurricane by the weekend and could hit South Florida. Dennis and Cindy are the third and fourth named storms of the Atlantic hurricane season, the earliest in the season that has occurred, forecasters said.

Oil companies evacuated their Gulf of Mexico rigs Tuesday, and tourists and residents on the vulnerable Louisiana and Mississippi coasts were advised to head inland.

Forecasters said Cindy could bring as much as 10 inches of rain.

Numerous flights in and out of the New Orleans airport were canceled, and Amtrak suspended passenger rail service to and from the city.

At the Cajun Tide Beach Resort on the tiny Louisiana barrier island town of Grand Isle, owners Shirley Riche and David Ducote said they were beginning to see the wind pick up and mix with a little rain as the outer bands of Cindy began lashing the island in early evening.

“We’re enjoying it. It’s a misty rain; it’s cool. It’s actually really nice. We’re outside cleaning fish, getting ready to cook some supper,” Riche said.

Officials earlier ordered recreational vehicles on Grand Isle to leave so that Louisiana Highway 1, the only route off the island, would not be clogged with slow-moving traffic.

In Mississippi’s coastal Hancock County, jail inmates filled sandbags for distribution to flood-prone areas.