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Hurricane Delta, a Category 3 Storm, Heads Toward Louisiana Hurricane Delta Live Updates: Category 3 Storm Heads Toward Louisiana
(about 4 hours later)
Louisiana, which has repeatedly been battered by storms this hurricane season, is preparing for yet another: Hurricane Delta, which is expected to bring winds, heavy rain and life-threatening storm surge to portions of the northern Gulf Coast as it makes landfall on Friday evening.Louisiana, which has repeatedly been battered by storms this hurricane season, is preparing for yet another: Hurricane Delta, which is expected to bring winds, heavy rain and life-threatening storm surge to portions of the northern Gulf Coast as it makes landfall on Friday evening.
Delta was about 160 miles south of Cameron, La., with sustained winds of 120 miles per hour, with higher gusts, according to an advisory at 8 a.m. Eastern from the National Hurricane Center. The storm is expected to weaken after it moves inland. Delta was about 130 miles south of Cameron, La., with sustained winds of 115 miles per hour with higher gusts, according to an advisory at 11 a.m. Eastern from the National Hurricane Center. The storm, which had grown as strong as a Category 4, is expected to weaken after it moves inland.
A storm surge warning was in effect for High Island, Texas, to Ocean Springs, Miss., while a hurricane warning was issued for High Island, Texas, to Morgan City, La., the center said.A storm surge warning was in effect for High Island, Texas, to Ocean Springs, Miss., while a hurricane warning was issued for High Island, Texas, to Morgan City, La., the center said.
Delta is forecast to produce as much as 15 inches of rain from southwest into south-central Louisiana through Saturday. The heavy rain could create hazardous conditions like flash flooding along with minor to major river flooding. Delta is forecast to produce as much as 15 inches of rain from southwest into south-central Louisiana through Saturday.
“Preparations for the arrival of Hurricane #Delta need to be rushed to completion, with tropical-storm-force winds expected to reach the coast in the next couple of hours, making preparations dangerous or impossible to complete,” the center Tweeted on Friday morning. On Friday morning, the National Hurricane Center urged residents to be prepared for the storm’s arrival, noting that tropical storm force winds were soon expected to reach the coast, “making preparations dangerous or impossible to complete.”
A sprawling number of schools and local colleges in southern Louisiana were forced to close as several parishes were placed under either mandatory or voluntary evacuation orders, driving residents from their homes yet again this season.
Preparations for the storm were also underway in Mississippi, where emergency officials have sent 160,000 sandbags to several counties along the Gulf Coast including Harrison, Hancock and Jackson Counties, and 11 shelters were on standby.
On Friday morning, Duke Energy sent more than 300 workers from North Carolina and South Carolina to Louisiana to help respond to power outages. West of Lake Charles on Thursday, videos showed hundreds of cars lining the highway as residents evacuated the area.
As Delta moved steadily, and ominously, toward the Louisiana coast Friday morning, residents of Lafayette, the heart of the state’s Acadian culture, were busy with the drudgery of preparing, coming to the aid of their neighbors or fleeing northward.
According to a late-morning advisory from the National Hurricane Center, Delta could cut a northeasterly path once it comes inland, with the eye passing to the west of Lafayette.
That would put the city of 120,000 people on the more dangerous right side — sometimes called “the dirty side” of the hurricane. And even though Lafayette Parish has been under voluntary evacuation since midweek, many residents have chosen to ride it out.
There was a line out the door Friday morning at Rickey Meche’s Donut King near the center of town. At a Super 1 grocery store along the evacuation route, families walked out with cases of bottled water on Thursday afternoon. Plywood and composite boards were on display near the grocery store entrance, waiting to be nailed over the automatic doors.
Across the street in a lot next to a city-owned community center, 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-breed 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 Hurricane 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. After they ride out the storm, they hope to return to the camper.
They figured it would be another seven to eight months before their apartment in Lake Charles was fixed up and habitable.
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.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.
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. 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.
On Thursday, weary residents of this battered oil-patch city prepared, along with the rest of southwest Louisiana, for yet another round of serious trouble spinning up from the Gulf of Mexico.
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.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.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.”“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.”
Nic Hunter, the mayor of Lake Charles, on Thursday urged residents to leave.
“The latest track for Hurricane Delta does not look good for Lake Charles,” he wrote on Facebook. “You need to evacuate. You need to leave town.”
This hurricane season has been one of the most active on record. 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.
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.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.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.
As Delta made its way toward the Louisiana coastline this week, it upended college football, which had delivered a welcome hint of normalcy to the Gulf States in a year made abnormal by the persistence of the coronavirus crisis.
In addition, a sprawling number of schools and local colleges in southern Louisiana were forced to close as several parishes were placed under either mandatory or voluntary evacuation orders, driving residents from their homes yet again this season.
On Thursday night, Gov. John Bel Edwards of Louisiana said Delta was set to strike nearly the same areas that Laura had devastated in August. Reporting was contributed by Chelsea Brasted, Richard Fausset, Giulia McDonnell Nieto del Rio, Rick Rojas, John Schwartz and Derrick Bryson Taylor.
“And we believe that there will be hurricane force winds and storm surge in southwest Louisiana, in the area of our state that is least prepared to take it,” Mr. Edwards said in a news conference, warning that residents in the area would be tested.
On Friday morning, Duke Energy sent more than 300 workers from North Carolina and South Carolina to Louisiana to help respond to power outages.
Preparations for the storm were also underway in Mississippi, where emergency officials have sent 160,000 sandbags to several counties along the Gulf Coast including Harrison, Hancock and Jackson Counties, and 11 shelters were on standby.
It was a tiring reality that informed the wisdom imparted by Gov. Tate Reeves of Mississippi, as he also declared a state of emergency this week. “Prep for the worst,” he said. “Pray for the best.”
Chelsea Brasted reported from New Orleans, Richard Fausset from Atlanta, and John Schwartz from New York. Alan Blinder contributed reporting from Atlanta, and Derrick Bryson Taylor from London.