U.S. forecasters say hurricane and “life threatening storm surge” warnings are in effect from eastern Texas to Mississippi as Hurricane Delta approaches the southern U.S. gulf coast and is expected to come ashore Friday.
In its latest report, the National Hurricane Center says Delta was about 205 kilometers south southwest of the Louisiana coast. Its maximum sustained winds were about 185 kilometers per hour, making it a category 3 on the Saffir-Simpson scale used to gauge hurricane strength. The center says the hurricane is expected to weaken slightly before it comes ashore and weaken rapidly afterwards as the storm center moves inland.
A storm surge warning remains in effect from High Island, Texas to the Mouth of the Pearl River on the Louisiana-Mississippi border, while a hurricane warning is in effect from High Island, Texas to Morgan City, Louisiana. Forecasters say the storm surge could be from two to three-and-a-half meters.
Delta is the latest in a series of hurricanes to strike the U.S. gulf coast this year, with the category 4 Hurricane Laura striking in late August. Much of the region, particularly the small community of Cameron, Louisiana and the city of Lake Charles, Louisiana, where Delta is expected to come ashore, is still in recovery mode from Laura.
Delta hit Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula Wednesday as a Category 2 storm, flooding streets, knocking down trees and leaving hundreds of thousands without power. Authorities reported no deaths or injuries from the storm.
Delta is the 25th named storm of the Atlantic Hurricane season and is the earliest forming 25th storm of any hurricane season on record.
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