Tropical Storm Karen set to cause flooding on Gulf Coast; hurricane unlikely

Shannon Kaestle / The Miami Herald via AP

Downtown Miami is engulfed in storm clouds as Tropical Storm Karen heads toward Florida's Panhandle, on Thursday.

By Alexander Smith, NBC News contributor

Heavy rains may cause flooding and raised water levels as Tropical Storm Karen hits the Gulf Coast, although the chances of it becoming a hurricane are very low, a meteorologist said Friday.

The storm is set to make landfall early Saturday in Louisiana, where the governor has declared a state of emergency, and hurricane watches are still in effect from Grand Isle, La., eastward to Indian Pass, Fla.

“It’s going to be the kind of storm which could produce rain around the four-inch mark,” said Michael Palmer, lead meteorologist at the Weather Channel.

He added that the coast would see a water-level rise of two-to-four feet which could cause additional flooding in the low-lying areas.

Palmer urged people in the storm’s path to be prepared, especially to the east of the system which posed the greatest risk of wet weather.

“The biggest threat for this type of storm is not the winds but the heavy rainfall,” he said. “The east side of the storm is where all the condensation is, and the west is not going to get nearly as much rain."

However Louisiana's state of emergency and the hurricane watches were only a precaution in the event of strong gusts rather than the formation of a hurricane, Palmer said.

“It’s looking a lot less impressive on satellite than it did,” Palmer said. “It does not appear that it will turn into a hurricane at this point. There could be an outside chance according to the National Weather Center.”

The storm is not expected to linger in one location too long once it hits land, with Palmer predicting it moving to Mobile, Al., and Panama City, Fl., by Sunday.

In anticipation of the storm, the White House said Thursday it would recall employees of the Federal Emergency Management Agency who have been placed on furlough because of the federal government shutdown.

Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal declared a state of emergency on Thursday afternoon in response to the storm forecasts.

Under the declaration, the Governor's Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness is authorized to carry out any steps necessary to prepare for the storm and respond to emergencies resulting from it.

Meanwhile in the Northern Rockies to the Northern Plains a winter storm is set to strike over the next few days, Weather Channel meteorologist Nick Wiltgen told NBC News Thursday.

The early winter storm was set to produce snow, strong winds and rain from Idaho to Nebraska, causing potential problems for people traveling in these regions, he said.

The storm could even prompt tornado activity in Iowa, eastern Nebraska and parts of Kansas on Friday, Wiltgen said.

NBC News' Daniella Silva contributed to this report.

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