NEW ORLEANS, July 15 — Storm Barry trudged through northwestern Louisiana yesterday, weakening to a tropical depression but dropping up to 38 cm of rain in some places to create life-threatening flood conditions along the Mississippi River.

Barry, which made landfall on Saturday as a Category 1 hurricane on the five-step Saffir-Simpson scale of intensity and then quickly weakened to a tropical storm, was 35 km north-northeast of Shreveport with maximum sustained winds of 55 kph by early yesterday evening.

Fears that Barry might devastate the low-lying city of New Orleans like Hurricane Katrina did in 2005 were unfounded, but rain in the forecast could still cause dangerous flooding into Monday, meteorologists said.

The National Hurricane Center said 7.6-12.7 cm of more rain was expected across south-central Louisiana, with isolated storm totals of 25-38 cm in some areas.

"This additional rainfall will lead to dangerous, life-threatening flooding,” the NHC said in a bulletin.

The National Weather Service warned that tornadoes were possible across portions of southeastern Louisiana, Mississippi, western Alabama, eastern Arkansas and western Tennessee.

New Orleans saw light rain yesterday, and churches and several businesses were open, including some on Tchoupitoulas Street along the flooded Mississippi River. Streets in the city's popular garden district were quieter than usual but some joggers and dogwalkers ventured out.

A concert by the Rolling Stones scheduled for yesterday at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome, which served as an emergency shelter during Katrina, was postponed until today because of the weather forecast, the venue said on its website.

The New Orleans Police Department tweeted yesterday: "HELLO @RollingStones — the @CityOfNOLA is ready to roll with you tomorrow! Thanks again for sticking around an extra day — we appreciate ya!”

One hundered and five km south-east of New Orleans in Plaquemines Parish, part of which lies below sea level, residents received mandatory evacuation orders ahead of Barry's impact.

Emmett Sylve, 74, said the storm had destroyed his trailer home after 1.2m of water poured in "like Niagara Falls.”

Sylve's cousin Elliott, 75, said he hoped the Federal Emergency Management Agency would help provide new housing for Emmett.

"We're all elderly people here, this is our property and we don't have anywhere to go,” Elliot said. "We don't have the resources to stay in a motel for seven or eight days.”

In New Orleans, the Mississippi River crested late on Friday at just under 5.2m, according to authorities, much lower than a prediction earlier in the week of 6.1m, near the height of the city's levees.

Barry has shut in 73 per cent, or 1.38 million barrels per day (bpd), of crude oil production in the US-regulated areas of the Gulf of Mexico, officials said yesterday. — Reuters