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Hurricane Delta Live Updates: Louisiana Is Battered by Another Storm
Hurricane Delta Strikes a Louisiana Region That Was Already Reeling
(about 1 hour later)
Hurricane Delta made landfall near Creole, La., on Friday evening, retreading ground that had been shredded by Hurricane Laura just six weeks ago. Delta was lashing Louisiana with high winds, knocking out power and driving a storm surge of over seven feet in some areas.
LAFAYETTE, La. — Hurricane Delta delivered yet another assault of wind and storm surge on Friday on a stretch of the Louisiana coast that had been eviscerated just six weeks ago by Hurricane Laura, one of the most powerful storms to hit the state.
The fast-moving storm was expected to move through the state in about 14 hours, but residents were warned to prepare for possible tornadoes and flash flooding. Southwest and south-central Louisiana may see up to 15 inches of rain through Saturday.
Delta, which had weakened to a Category 2 storm, made landfall at roughly 6 p.m. local time in Creole, La., sweeping in with 100-mile-per-hour winds, according to the National Hurricane Center.
By 7:30 p.m. Central on Friday, the storm had knocked out electricity to 217,000 customers in Louisiana and nearly 100,000 on Texas’ Gulf Coast.
The outer bands of the storm had arrived earlier on Friday, lashing communities reaching from the Texas coast to as far east as Baton Rouge, where the authorities said that nearly two dozen emergency calls included high-water rescues.
The National Hurricane Center predicted storm surges as high as 11 feet in Vermilion Bay, south of Lafayette, La. A storm surge warning was in effect for High Island, Texas, to the mouth of the Pearl River, near New Orleans, while a hurricane warning was issued for High Island, Texas, to Morgan City, La., the center said.
Residents already weary from a long and punishing hurricane season restocked their pantries, boarded up their homes and either cleared out or hunkered down in advance of the storm. Delta is expected to cut a path similar to that of Laura, which wrought an estimated $8 billion to $12 billion in damage, upending lives in communities that were struggling to claw their way back.
According to Phil Klotzbach, a meteorologist at Colorado State University, Hurricane Delta was the 10th named storm to make landfall in the United States this year, breaking the previous record of nine storms in 1916.
Across the southwestern part of the state, officials braced for even a slight rerun of Laura.
In a Friday afternoon news conference before Delta made landfall, Gov. John Bel Edwards said he hoped the Lake Charles area — which was badly damaged by Hurricane Laura — would escape the worst of the new storm but warned that hurricane-force winds would almost certainly be felt there. “We know this is going to exacerbate what is already a bad situation,” he said.
“People are frustrated, people are emotional, people are fatigued,” said Nic Hunter, the mayor of Lake Charles, where power was finally fully restored this week and where thousands of homes remain uninhabitable.
Delta made landfall in Cameron Parish just 20 miles east of where Hurricane Laura hit on Aug. 27 as a Category 4 storm.
Mr. Hunter said he worried that residents would try to ride out Delta in compromised structures that could collapse completely, though he added that more people had evacuated this week than for Laura.
Delta struck a sprawling and sparsely populated area that had already been ravaged by the earlier storm. The unincorporated community of Creole had been nearly wiped out: The intersection with a gas station, restaurant and grocery store that constituted downtown had been reduced to scattered rubble.
Still, there was no escaping the bruised feelings.
Residents across the region were exasperated and exhausted by an already brutal hurricane season. The latest storm managed to deliver a blow even before it arrived.
“We just went through a major catastrophe,” he said, “and in our wildest dreams, no one would have thought that six weeks later we would be going through the same thing.”
“We just went through a major catastrophe, and in our wildest dreams, no one would have thought that six weeks later we would be going through the same thing,” Mayor Nic Hunter of Lake Charles said, adding, “People are frustrated, people are emotional, people are fatigued.”
Hurricane Delta was the 10th named storm to make landfall in the United States this year, breaking the previous record of nine storms in 1916, according to Phil Klotzbach, a meteorologist at Colorado State University.
Throughout this hurricane season, Louisiana has been forced to find emergency shelter for large numbers of displaced people while taking into account the risk of spreading the coronavirus.
At a news conference on Friday afternoon, Gov. John Bel Edwards of Louisiana said he was praying that Delta, the 25th named storm of the busy Atlantic hurricane season, would rush quickly through the state, and stay on a projected path that kept it to the east of Lake Charles, sparing it from the storm’s more destructive eastern flank.
Mr. Edwards said that there were more than 9,500 Louisianians in shelters as of Friday afternoon, most of them evacuees from the previous storm. But he said that more than 800 evacuees were being housed because of Delta, many of them in a mega-shelter in the central Louisiana city of Alexandria.
Even so, Mr. Edwards said, “We’re confident that there will be hurricane-force winds felt in and around Lake Charles and in other areas of southwest Louisiana that are very damaged. And so we know this is going to exacerbate what is already a bad situation.”
In Lafayette, La., many were drawing comparisons to Hurricane Laura, which passed through in late August, not just because of its path, but because they were also expecting the storm to be more of a “wind event,” with powerful gusts creating most of the damage, like with Laura.
Louisiana has been in the path of six major storms since June, and along with the wildfires in the West, they have brought fresh attention to the effects of climate change, which has likely contributed to the intensity of the storms and the persistence and size of the fires.
Still, officials said the forecasts could be trusted only so much. “The storm has been very unpredictable in its behavior,” said Mark T. Garber, the Lafayette Parish sheriff. The eastern flank of the storm, which is often called the “dirty side” of the storm as it is typically the most destructive, is projected to scrape over Lafayette, a city of about 126,000 people some 150 miles west of New Orleans.
Along a wide swath of the northern Gulf Coast, which was heavily battered by Laura in late August and Sally in September, life is still not back to normal. Those storms caused extensive property damage and several deaths.
Into the early afternoon on Friday, even with a downpour of rain, cars were still out on the road and forming a drive-through line that wrapped around Kevin’s Seafood for fried catfish and shrimp. But most other gas stations, stores and restaurants had already shut down, and before long, the traffic largely vanished from many streets.
That dangerous right side of the storm, sometimes known as “the dirty side,” appeared likely to strafe a rural stretch of the Acadiana region, home to little towns that serve as repositories of the state’s Acadian and Creole cultures. A measure of anxiety was also palpable in Lafayette, population 126,000, the cultural and economic capital of the region.
Lafayette Parish had been under voluntary evacuation since midweek, and as Delta churned ever closer, residents were divided on whether to stay or go.
Across the street in a lot next to a city-owned community center on Thursday, half a dozen people filed into an ad hoc intake center operated by local housing advocates. They signed up with case managers who promised them rides on the midmorning caravan to a mega-shelter in Alexandria, about an hour and a half north along the hurricane evacuation route.
Betty Blaine, 57, stooped to coax her two mix-bred terriers — Creek and Angel — to drink from a yellow water bowl. She and her boyfriend, Troy Daigle Jr., 56, waited for a squat paratransit bus to take them away.
The pair lived together in Lake Charles in a senior living high rise called the Chateau Du Lac, which was shredded by Laura in late August. After decamping to a Marriott in New Orleans, Ms. Blaine and Mr. Daigle packed west to Acadia Parish, between Lafayette and their native Lake Charles, to stay in a friend’s camper.
Unsafe there, they cast their lot with the critical transport caravan and the shelter in Alexandria.
“With these hurricanes, you don’t know what they going to do,” Mr. Daigle said through a disposable surgical mask.
By Friday afternoon, even with a downpour of rain, cars were still out on the road and forming a drive-through line that wrapped around Kevin’s Seafood for fried catfish and shrimp. But most other gas stations, stores and restaurants had already shut down, and before long, as the sky grew darker, the traffic largely vanished from many streets.
There were no hotel rooms left in the city, officials said, so people evacuating from other communities in the path of the storm needed to bunk with relatives or friends or travel farther. For those remaining in the city, officials urged them to stay at home.
There were no hotel rooms left in the city, officials said, so people evacuating from other communities in the path of the storm needed to bunk with relatives or friends or travel farther. For those remaining in the city, officials urged them to stay at home.
“We will prepare for the worst here locally,” Joshua S. Guillory, the Lafayette mayor-president, said, “but pray for the best.”
Mr. Edwards said that while Delta, which struck Mexico earlier in the week, had lost some of its strength, it was still forecast to bring a surge as high as 11 feet and rainfall of 10 inches or more.
In nearby Rayne, a city of about 8,000 people, windows had been boarded up and many had already fueled up their generators, hunkering down ahead of the storm.
With Delta, much like Laura, state officials were forced to find emergency shelter for large numbers of displaced people while taking into account the risk of spreading the coronavirus.
But not everything was quiet yet. A woman still went for a run, jogging along a two-lane highway through the heavy rainfall that had already started. Others were clearing out their workshops.
Mr. Edwards said there were more than 9,500 Louisianians in shelters as of Friday afternoon, most of them evacuees from the previous storm. But another 800 were being housed because of Delta, many of them in the mega-shelter in Alexandria.
The shelter there, Mr. Edwards said, could typically accommodate thousands of people, but its capacity was reduced to 833 because of virus restrictions. After reaching capacity, evacuees were moved farther north to the cities of Bastrop and Shreveport.
Still, many others chose to ride out Delta with a shrug — a response that might be interpreted as coolheadedness or insouciance.
In Rayne, a small city on the Cajun prairie west of Lafayette, windows were boarded up and generators were full of fuel. A woman jogged along a two-lane highway through the heavy rainfall that had already begun. And the register was getting a workout at Queen City Discount Liquor and Tobacco.
Marcus Carmouche, 30, set out on Friday morning with the hope of finding a generator. He had no luck. Instead, he came to the store with his cousin, who gathered up armfuls of bags of chips.
Marcus Carmouche, 30, set out on Friday morning with the hope of finding a generator. He had no luck. Instead, he came to the store with his cousin, who gathered up armfuls of bags of chips.
He, like others in Rayne, were not all that perturbed. “It isn’t going to do nothing but tear out a few trees and knock power lines down,” he said, noting that the last storm, Hurricane Laura, had left his family without power for about a day.
Mr. Carmouche said he would take it as it came. “It isn’t going to do nothing but tear out a few trees and knock power lines down,” he said, noting that the last storm, Hurricane Laura, had left his family without power for about a day.
In the United States, along a wide swath of the northern Gulf Coast, which was heavily battered by Laura in late August and Sally in September, life is still not back to normal. Those storms had caused extensive property damage and several deaths.
His plan, he said, was to stay home and play video games until the lights went out. “We’re just going to chill,” he said.
Hurricane Delta, the 25th named storm of the busy 2020 Atlantic hurricane season, could end up strafing Lake Charles, La., a city still recovering from Laura. Videos on social media showed that homes in the city damaged from Hurricane Laura still had not been repaired as Delta approached on Friday.
Rick Rojas reported from Lafayette, and Richard Fausset from Atlanta. Giulia McDonnell Nieto del Rio contributed reporting from New York, Will Wright from Jersey City, N.J., Chelsea Brasted from New Orleans and Christiaan Mader from Lafayette.
Lt. Gov. Billy Nungesser of Louisiana said on CNN on Friday that Delta was another “blow” for the region after it was battered by Hurricane Laura. There are still about 10,000 people staying in hotels and shelters in the area, Mr. Nungesser said, adding that climate change has undoubtedly affected hurricane season. “They’re stronger, we’re seeing more of them and they’re having a greater impact,” he said.
Mr. Hunter, the mayor of Lake Charles, said in an interview on Friday that he was very concerned about the approaching storm, particularly since the city was still attempting to repair much of the destruction caused by the August hurricane. The community, he said, “is still pretty battered and we are still reeling from Hurricane Laura.”
More people have now evacuated the city than they did during Laura, he said, adding that for Lake Charles, the recovery from both storms will take months if not years.
Many of the blue tarps that cover damaged homes across the area may soon be whipped away by the wind, said Bryan C. Beam, the administrator of Calcasieu Parish, whose seat is Lake Charles. The debris along the roadsides may turn into flying projectiles. The choked-up drainage canals may overflow, creating new and dangerous flood patterns.
Electricity was finally restored in full last week — but homes could again be plunged into darkness, he said.
“It’s like a boxer going in the ring a few weeks later after getting pounded,” Mr. Beam said. “You can only take so much in a short period of time. We’re a very resilient people. But it’s very tough right now.”
Hurricane Delta has already hit southeastern Mexico near the tip of the Yucatán Peninsula, making landfall there early Wednesday. The storm knocked out power, felled trees, shattered windows, and caused scattered flooding in cities and towns along the Caribbean coast. But regional and federal officials said they had received no reports of deaths.
Visitors and residents of the region breathed a sigh of relief that the storm, which had grown to a Category 4 before weakening, had delivered a lesser punch than many there had anticipated.
Last month, meteorologists ran out of names after a storm named Wilfred formed in the Atlantic. Subtropical storm Alpha, the first of the 24 letters of the Greek alphabet, formed quickly thereafter, becoming the 22nd named storm since May.
Louisiana has been in the path of six major storms since June, and along with the wildfires in the West, they have brought fresh attention to the effects of climate change, which has likely contributed to the intensity of the storms and the persistence and size of the fires.
The possibility that the climate crisis may have moved the United States into a troubling new era of incessant catastrophe was discussed, for a few minutes, during Wednesday’s vice-presidential debate, in which Vice President Mike Pence argued that “there are no more hurricanes today than there were 100 years ago.”
On Thursday, Suzana J. Camargo, a research professor in the division of ocean and climate physics at Columbia University’s Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, said that judging hurricane seasons by the mere number of storms misses the point. Besides the fact that the actual number of storms could not be precisely tallied before the satellite era, “just talking about numbers is a little naïve,” she said, because of the issues of storm intensity, rainfall and surge.
Indeed, many scientists say that several aspects of climate change are making storms more destructive. James P. Kossin, a researcher with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, called the discussion of the number of storms a “red herring” since the trend toward more destructive storms is the more important factor. Climate change may even be reducing the number of weak storms through factors like increased wind shear.
Reporting was contributed by Chelsea Brasted, Richard Fausset, Giulia McDonnell Nieto del Rio, Rick Rojas, John Schwartz, Derrick Bryson Taylor and Will Wright
