Bands of rain from Tropical Storm Lee were pelting the Gulf Coast on Saturday as the storm's center trudged slowly toward land, where businesses were already beginning to suffer on what would normally be a bustling holiday weekend. The storm could bring up to 20 inches of rain to some areas.
Tropical storm warnings were in effect from Mississippi to Texas, and flash flood warnings extended along the Alabama coast into the Florida Panhandle.
The storm's slow forward movement means that its rain clouds should have more time to disgorge themselves on any cities in their path. It was dubbed a "super soaker" by the National Weather Service.
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In a posting on its website, The Weather Channel said the storm would "crawl ashore" late Saturday or Sunday along the Louisiana coast.
It said it might move slowly near the Gulf Coast Sunday or "even early Monday" before heading inland into the Southeast.
"Most likely, Lee will remain a tropical storm, although we can't yet rule out Lee reaching minimal hurricane status prior to landfall," The Weather Channel said.
It predicted "heavy rain, coastal flooding, some power outages" Saturday with continuing heavy rain Sunday along with coastal flooding and a potential for tornadoes.
On Monday, The Weather Channel expected heavy rain to spread into the Tennessee Valley and Appalachians, tapering off in Louisiana and Mississippi Gulf Coast, but possibly persisting on the Alabama Gulf Coast and Florida Panhandle.
Lee's biggest impact, so far, has been in the Gulf of Mexico oil fields. About half the Gulf's normal daily oil production has been cut as rigs were evacuated, though oil prices were down sharply Friday on sour economic news.
Story: Dry Texas expected to again miss out on rain from stormFederal authorities said 169 of the 617 staffed production platforms have been evacuated, along with 16 of the 62 drilling rigs. That's reduced daily production by about 666,000 barrels of oil and 1.7 billion cubic feet of gas.
The storm was expected to provide the biggest test of rebuilt levees in New Orleans since Hurricane Gustav struck on Labor Day 2008.
'Nothing' compared to Katrina
Still, residents didn't expect the tropical storm to live up to the legacy of some of the killer hurricanes that have hit the city.
"It's a lot of rain. It's nothing, nothing (compared) to Katrina," said Malcolm James, 59, a federal investigator in New Orleans who lost his home after levees broke during Katrina in August 2005 and had to be airlifted by helicopter.
"This is mild," he said. "Things could be worse."
The outer bands of Lee, the 12th named storm of the Atlantic hurricane season, began dumping rain over southeastern Louisiana, southern Mississippi and Alabama on Friday.
Video: Jindal warns La. of possible flash floods (on this page)The National Hurricane Center said the center of Lee was about 170 miles west-southwest of the mouth of the Mississippi River on Friday and moving north at just 5 mph.
Forecasters say that Lee's maximum sustained winds had increased slightly by early Saturday morning to 50 mph, and could get stronger.
PhotoBlog: View, discuss weather photosThe National Hurricane Center said the center of Lee was about 170 miles west-southwest of the mouth of the Mississippi River on Friday and moving north at just 5 mph.
Forecasters say that Lee's maximum sustained winds had increased slightly by early Saturday morning to 50 mph, and could get stronger.
Lee comes less than a week after Hurricane Irene brought destruction to the Caribbean and the U.S. Eastern Seaboard, killing more than 50 people.
It was too soon to tell if Hurricane Katia, out in the Atlantic, could endanger the U.S. It was expected to pass north of the Leeward Islands in the Caribbean.
The water-logged system is tantalizingly close to Texas but too far away to alleviate the state's drought.
If the center moves mostly into Louisiana, as expected, winds on its west side will blow from land to open water and reduce the chance of rain in Texas, said NWS meteorologist Dennis Cavanaugh. The hot, dry winds could even spur fire danger across the state.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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