Hurricane Delta gains strength on its way to the Louisiana coast, after hitting the Yucatan Peninsula, causing flooding and economic damage.
According to the National Hurricane Center (NHC, in English), the phenomenon reached
category 3
on Thursday
, which means that it is a force majeure hurricane.
According to meteorologists, the center of Delta is heading southwestern Louisiana, over the Gulf of Mexico, where Category 4 Hurricane Laura made landfall less than two months ago.
The phenomenon is expected to make landfall towards the end of the afternoon or evening on Friday.
A hurricane
watch is posted from High Island, Texas, to Morgan City, Louisiana.
The most recent forecast indicates that, around 4:00 am (Eastern Time), Delta had
maximum sustained winds
of
120 miles per hour
(195 km / h).
It was 200 miles (345 kilometers) south of Cameron, Louisiana, and was moving at a
speed of 12 mph
(19 km / h).
[How and when to prepare for a hurricane or tropical storm]
According to the center, it is possible that there will be tornadoes this Friday in sectors of the south of this state and Mississippi.
Maximum alert in Louisiana and part of Texas after the advance of Hurricane Delta through the Gulf of Mexico
Oct. 8, 202001: 59
Four million people, from the Louisiana coast to central Mississippi, are under flash flood watch.
Delta is the
10th hurricane of the 2020 season
and the 25th named storm in an unprecedented hurricane season in the Atlantic.
It is not yet known if it will lose strength this Friday, and if it will become a Category 2 hurricane, or if it will maintain its devastating strength.
The path of Hurricane Delta, predicted by the National Hurricane Center (NHC) .NOAA
"You can always get another house, another car, but not another life,"
Hilton Stroder said when he and his wife Terry were guarding their home in Abbeville, Louisiana, with plans to go to their son's home further east.
It is the sixth time this season that Louisiana has been threatened by a hurricane.
Although some drifted, others, such as Tropical Storm Cristóbal, caused damage in the southeast of the state in June.
And Laura demolished much of the southwestern state on August 27, causing more than 30 deaths.
[The hurricane season was expected to be intense: it will be even worse]
The
governor of Louisiana, John Bel Edwards declared a state of emergency
and said in a radio program that Delta seemed headed for the area near the state of Texas that was devastated by Laura, including Lake Charles and Calcasieu Parish and like the rural parish of Cameron on the coast.
"We have people who are very tired," he said.
"The people of Lake Charles and Cameron parish have suffered enough already, and then this (storm) comes," said Desi Milligan, who owns a trailer park in Cameron that was heavily damaged by Laura.
Bernie Arnould, center, along with Kaden Ashley and DJ Hebert, left, cover the windows and driveways of MC Bank in Amelia, Louisiana, Wednesday, Oct. 7, 2020, due to the arrival of Hurricane Delta.
Chris Granger / The Times-Picayune / The New Orleans Advocate via AP
"This season has been relentless," the governor said earlier.
"Prepare for the worst. And pray that it is not so bad," he warned.
"You're here. If you like it, you stay," Tony Russo said in Abbeville.
But he added with a chuckle,
"2020 has been a hell of a year
,
"
as he loaded up supplies late Thursday.
In Morgan City, hardware stores were swarming Thursday with customers looking for lumber and tools to protect their homes, which are on Delta's estimated path.
[Dos and don'ts during and after a hurricane]
In New Orleans, almost six weeks later, some
5,600 people are still staying in hotels,
because their homes are still too damaged.
Downed trees, torn roofs and other debris that have not been cleared are still visible on the sides of the roads through Lake Charles.
Calle de Cancún, Quintana Roo, after the passage of Hurricane Delta;
on October 7, 2020. Getty Images
The
Mississippi Governor Tate Reeves, also declared a state of emergency.
Experts forecast heavy rains and flash floods in the south of the state.
Delta has already hit Mexico's Yucatán Peninsula as a Category 2 hurricane,
just south of the resort city of Cancun, early Wednesday morning with strong winds and rain.
The storm claimed the life of at least one person.
With information from the NHC, AP and NBC News.