Tropical Depression 13 expected to bring tremendous amts of rain to parts of the Gulf coast, forcing Louisiana Governor to declare State of Emergency

http://www.weather.com/weather/hurricanecentral/article/louisiana-prepares-for-system_2011-09-01

Updated Thursday, September 1 at 8:00 p.m. eastern

Tropical Depression 13 is expected to bring tremendous amounts of rain to parts of the Gulf coast, forcing Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal to declare a State of Emergency Thursday evening.

Get the forecast for Tropical Depression 13 here

Governor Jindal met with his top emergency teams Thursday. He emphasized that state agencies are prepared to help coastal parishes.

Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries is one of the agencies already taking precautions by securing equipment along the coast. Meanwhile, the Louisiana Department of Veterans Affairs is taking early steps to prepare two of its facilities - the Southeast Louisiana Veterans Home in Reserve and the Southwest Louisiana Veterans Home in Jennings - just in case.

Big oil companies are also taking precautions. Petroleum producers Royal Dutch Shell and ExxonMobil are removing crews from a handful of production platforms. The move affects nine of 617 staffed production platforms in U.S. waters in the Gulf.

Also Thursday, rain from the system was hitting New Orleans, aiding firefighters in the battle against a week-old, stubborn marsh fire. That prompted state environmental officials to drop an air quality alert for the area.

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New Orleans monthly rainfall record for December was broken Saturday December 12th

... The last record, set in 1967 and recorded at New Orleans International Airport, was 10.77 inches for the month, said Shawn O'Neil, a weather service meteorologist. By 9 p.m. Saturday, it was measuring 12.72 inches as the rain continued to fall, he said.

At Audubon Park, a century-old record was broken for Dec. 12. In 1909, 3.25 inches of rain fell. By 9 p.m. Saturday, the park had seen 5.55 inches of rain, O'Neil said ...

http://www.nola.com/news/index.ssf/2009/12/strong_thunderstorms_moving_th.html

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http://www.shreveporttimes.com/article/20091030/NEWS01/910300347/1060

Emergency personnel tend to a man whose vehicle was crushed when a tornado blew the steeple off First United Methodist Church at Common at Texas streets in downtown Shreveport. (Greg Pearson/The Times)

Jim Hudelson/The Times

Flooding along Airline drive near the intersection of Douglas Drive Thursday night Oct. 29, 2009 after heavy storms moved through the area.

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