Hurricane Barry makes landfall in Louisiana and weakens to a tropical storm

Hurricane Barry has made landfall in Louisiana and weakened to a tropical storm.

With maximum sustained winds at under 115 km/hour, the only threat now is from flooding. But levees in the extremely high Mississippi river seem to have done their job.

"We actually anticipated that the back levy would be overtopped and so we are not surprised by what has happened. But what everyone should understand - no Mississippi River levee has been overtopped and not a single levee in the state Louisiana, as right now, has failed or breached" said the Governor of Louisiana, John Bel Edwards.

Barry is expected to weaken as it heads further inland.

It is forecast to become a tropical depression by Sunday.

Barry could still bring dangerous rainfall and flooding to south-west coastal regions, baton rouge and Lafayette.

Officials have warned people in exposed, low-lying areas along the Gulf Coast to leave.

But residents of New Orleans were asked to "shelter in place", prompting people to stock up on essentials, leaving some grocery stores shelves carrying water and bread, laying mostly bare.