Tropical Storm Barry's rains pose greatest threat

(NBC News) – Final preparations are underway as Tropical Storm Barry continues its slow push toward the Louisiana coast.

The storm is expected to make landfall early Saturday as a Category 1 hurricane, and is threatening to deliver as much as 20 inches of rain.

Residents in low-lying parishes are evacuating.

“This is not a normal storm and we have already proven that is to be unpredictable,” says Jefferson Parish President Michael S. Yenni.

Barry will bring more rain to an already water-logged region.

“If Tropical Storm Barry becomes a hurricane, as we fully expect it will, this will be the first time we had a hurricane make landfall in Louisiana while the Mississippi River was at flood stage,” warns Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwards.

The Mississippi River is already eight feet above normal. Barry could drive it to its highest level since 1950.