tropical storm to hit the u.s. this year. that system wreaking havoc knocking down the play house in texas. tropical storm barry will form today and make landfall as a hurricane by saturday. barry is expected to make landfall along the louisiana or upper texas coast. >> now current watches do not include the new orleans area which was inundated for hours as you can see. governor john edwards issued a state of emergency. >> right now we believe that any overtopping of the levies would be relatively short duration of 12 hours, but that is still a very, very significant hazard. we're asking everyone to take this very seriously. >> local media reports more than 200 flood gates are being closed, many around the mississippi river. residents are starting to lay down sand bags to try to prevent