Hurricane Delta makes landfall on southwest Louisiana coast
Updated at 6:37 p.m.
Hurricane Delta made landfall near Creole, La., the National Hurricane Center announced at 6 p.m.
The hurricane is now a Category 2 storm with estimated winds about 100 mph.
It is the second hurricane to strike the state over the last six weeks. Hurricane Laura hit the region in August.
NHC reported the storm is expected to weaken further now that it has reached land but life threatening storm surge warnings remain in effect.
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"A NOAA National Weather Service water level gauge at Freshwater Canal Locks, Louisiana, recently reported storm surge inundation of over 8 feet above ground level," the agency said in its latest statement.
Hurricane Delta will bring a "life-threatening storm surge, destructive winds, and significant flooding" to the U.S. Gulf Coast, the National Weather Service says. The storm, made a first landfall along the northeastern coast of the Yucatan Peninsula near Puerto Morelos on Wednesday morning.
The National Weather Service office in New Orleans is warning residents, "Worsening conditions are expected through the day."
"The good news is that Delta is moving relatively quickly," so its torrential rains aren't expected to linger in the area, Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards said at a news briefing early Friday afternoon.
Edwards stressed the need for people to shelter in place, obey local emergency orders and carefully follow safety precautions for using a generator. The governor noted that of the 30 deaths the state now attributes to Laura, nine were from carbon monoxide poisoning.
"Authorities have told people in the barrier islands and coastal towns of Louisiana to leave," NPR's John Burnett reports from Lafayette. "There's a mandatory evacuation order in Lake Charles, which has not recovered from Category 4 Hurricane Laura. Neighborhoods are empty, and blue tarps precariously cover roofs torn off only weeks ago."
By noon local time Friday, an observation buoy about 25 miles east of Galveston, Texas, was reporting sustained winds up to 52 mph, with gusts up to 60 mph.
"It's a very healthy storm," NHC Director Ken Graham said in an online briefing Friday morning.
Noting satellite imagery that shows clouds and vapor fanning out along the edges of the system, Graham added, "The air coming in, building that convection, and all those winds, and then the air coming out — you can see this thing basically breathing."
A hurricane warning is in effect from High Island, Texas, east of Galveston, to Morgan City, La., south of Baton Rouge. Delta's rains have been falling on southwestern Louisiana and southeast Texas. It's also bringing a storm surge that could cause water to rise 7 to 11 feet aboveground.
Hurricane warnings center on the coast, but they extend well inland because of Delta's large size. Tropical storm warnings cover an even larger area, up to Louisiana's northeast border with Arkansas.
As forecasters predicted, the storm has weakened slightly before making landfall, as it meets cooler waters and less favorable wind conditions near the Louisiana coast.
"Regardless, Delta is forecast to be near major hurricane intensity when it makes landfall and significant impacts are expected," the National Hurricane Center said.
Storms of similar intensity commonly cause major damage to homes, snap or uproot trees, and lead to widespread power outages. Officials had been urging people in the warning zones to prepare for the hurricane's arrival, saying conditions would be too dangerous to complete such work on Friday.
Delta's strength has sharply fluctuated since it became a hurricane on Monday — including explosive growth early on, from 40 mph Monday morning to a Category 4 hurricane on Tuesday with winds of 130 mph.
Despite that early strength, the storm was relatively small. But it grew larger as it crossed the Gulf of Mexico's warm waters.
Delta's center is now projecting hurricane-force winds outward for up to 40 miles, and tropical-storm-force winds for up to 160 miles — increasing the area for potential damage from the storm and any tornadoes it might generate on land.
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