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MIAMI — Bands of heavy rain and strong wind gusts from Tropical Storm Lee knocked out power to thousands in Louisiana and Mississippi on Saturday and prompted evacuations in bayou towns like Jean Lafitte, where water was lapping at the front doors of some homes.

The sluggish storm stalled just offshore for several hours before resuming its slow march north late in the afternoon. Landfall was expected later in the day, and the storm threatened to dump more than a foot of rain across the Gulf Coast and into the Southeast in coming days.

No injuries were reported, but there were scattered instances of water entering low-lying homes and businesses in Louisiana.

To the east, coffers were suffering at many coastal businesses that depend on a strong Labor Day weekend. Alabama beaches that would normally be packed were largely empty, and rough seas closed the Port of Mobile. Mississippi’s coastal casinos, however, were open and reporting brisk business.

In Jean Laffite, water was a foot deep under Eva Alexie’s house, which is raised about 8 feet off the flat ground.

“I should be used to this,” said Alexie, 76, a storm veteran who lost a home to Hurricane Ike in 2008. “It happens pretty often.”

The center of the slow-moving storm was about 55 miles south-southwest of Lafayette, La., on Saturday evening, spinning intermittent bands of stormy weather, alternating with light rain and occasional sunshine. It was moving north-northwest at about 4 mph in the late afternoon.

Its maximum sustained winds dropped to 50 mph, and their intensity was expected to decrease further by today. Tropical storm warnings stretched from the Louisiana-Texas state line to Destin, Fla.

The National Weather Service in Slidell, La., said parts of New Orleans received 6 to 8 inches of rain between Thursday morning and Saturday afternoon, and that coastal Mississippi points reported more than 6 inches. Officials in some suburban and rural areas of southeastern Louisiana reported more than 10 inches.

Forecasts said that isolated areas could get up to 20 inches.

In New Orleans, sporadic downpours caused some street flooding in low-lying areas early Saturday, but pumps were sucking up the water and sending it into Lake Pontchartrain.

Lee’s surge so far had not penetrated levees along the coast, said National Weather Service forecaster Robert Ricks in Slidell.

New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu warned residents not to let their guard down, saying: “We’re not out of the woods. Don’t go to sleep on this storm.”

The storm was denting offshore energy production. The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement said 237 oil and gas production platforms and 23 drilling rigs have been evacuated. The agency estimates that about 60 percent of the oil production in the gulf and almost 55 percent of the natural-gas production has been shut down.