Gulf Coast braces for Tropical Storm Karen

From a tiny, vulnerable island off the Louisiana coast to the beaches of the Florida Panhandle, Gulf Coast residents have prepared for a possible hit from Tropical Storm Karen, which threatened to become the first named tropical system to menace the United States this year.
Karen was forecast to lash the northern Gulf Coast over the weekend as a weak hurricane or tropical storm. A hurricane watch was in effect from Grand Isle, La, to Indian Pass in the Florida Panhandle. A tropical storm watch also was issued for parts of the Louisiana coast west of Grand Isle, including the New Orleans area.

In Alabama, safety workers hoisted double red flags at Gulf Shores because of treacherous rip currents ahead of the storm.
"Now is the time for people to review their emergency plans in case conditions worsen," Mississippi Gov Phil Bryant said. People who live in flood-prone areas should think about where they'll go if ordered to evacuate, Mississippi Emergency Management Agency spokesman Greg Flynn said.
In Louisiana, Gov Bobby Jindal declared a state of emergency, citing the possibility of high winds, heavy rain and tides. The Army Corps of Engineers said it was closing a structure intended to keep storm surge out of the Inner Harbour Navigation Canal, known locally as the Industrial Canal, where levee breaches during Hurricane Katrina led to catastrophic flooding in 2005.

Louisiana officials were taking precautions while noting that forecasts show the storm veering east of the state, and at a faster track than last year's Hurricane Isaac, a week storm that stalled over the area and caused widespread flooding.

"It should make that fork right and move out very, very quickly," said Jerry Sneed, head of New Orleans' emergency preparedness office.
Offshore, at least two oil companies said they were evacuating non-essential personnel and securing rigs and platforms.
In Washington, the White House said the Federal Emergency Management Agency was recalling some workers furloughed due to the government shutdown to prepare for the storm.

The National Hurricane Centre in Miami said Karen was about 430 miles (695 km) south of the mouth of the Mississippi River yesterday afternoon and had maximum sustained winds of 65 mph (100 kph). The storm was moving north-northwest at 12 mph (19 kph). It could be at or near hurricane strength by today before approaching the northern Gulf Coast a day later, forecasters said.
In Mexico's Caribbean coast state of Quintana, the brief passage of Karen before the storm moved north caused authorities to close seaports and some schools, but little rain was actually reported.
A few fishing camps and small hamlets along the coast were ordered evacuated late Wednesday, and some boat services were suspended for the estimated 35,000 tourists currently in Cancun. But the head of the Cancun Hotel Association, Roberto Cintron, said tourists appeared to be taking it in stride.