After hitting Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula late Monday as a Category 1 hurricane, the weakened Tropical Storm Zeta is expected to regain strength before making landfall Wednesday night somewhere in the battered southern city of New Orleans, Louisiana.
Zeta, the 27th named storm in this busy Atlantic hurricane season, could become a hurricane again in the next few hours.
And, most alarmingly, it could be the first hurricane to hit directly above New Orleans this season
, according to forecasts by the Weather and Meteorology Unit of NBC News, the sister network of Noticias Telemundo.
Forecasters are forecasting wind gust damage in the 60 to 70 mph (97 kph to 113 kph) range in New Orleans, which has not yet fully recovered from the devastation of hurricanes like Katrina in August 2005. Power outages are expected. Energy.
A dangerous and potentially destructive storm surge of 5 to 8 feet is also expected for the Mississippi coast.
In that state, as well as in Alabama and Georgia, fast forward speed could lead to wind and tree damage.
Zeta is expected to make its way from Alabama to Tennessee as it weakens on Thursday and will turn into a post-tropical storm remnant over the mid-Atlantic by Thursday afternoon.
The rapid speed of movement of the phenomenon will limit the amounts of rain, so widespread flooding is not expected.
"I don't think we're that lucky with this one."
Zeta is a small and relatively weak storm compared to many other storms this year, but the only difference is that this one is heading directly over or near New Orleans.
Numerous storms threatened this hurricane season, but none have directly affected the city.
Zeta weakens to tropical storm and moves through Gulf of Mexico
Oct. 27, 202001: 43
It is expected to make landfall as a severe tropical storm or Category 1 hurricane between 5:00 pm and 7:00 pm ET on Wednesday.
[How and when to prepare for a hurricane or tropical storm]
The
strongest winds will hit New Orleans in the late afternoon and peak around 8:00 PM
ET.
Rains and storm surges could cause minor problems in the city, but widespread flooding is not expected.
Louisiana has been hit this year by two tropical storms and two hurricanes: Laura, which was blamed for at least 27 deaths in that state after it struck in August, and Delta, which exacerbated Laura's damage in the same area weeks later. .
New Orleans has been in the potential tropical cyclone warning area seven times this year, but has seen them recur to the east or west.
"I don't think we'll be that lucky with this one," the city's emergency director Colin Arnold said Tuesday at a news conference with Mayor LaToya Cantrell.
They say global warming is causing stronger hurricanes
Sept.
4, 201902: 52
Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards said Tuesday that he asked President Donald Trump to issue a disaster declaration before the storm.
Zeta is the 11th hurricane of the season.
An average season has six hurricanes and 12 named storms.
But there have been so many storms this season that the
Hurricane Center had to turn to the Greek alphabet
after running out of assigned names.
The extraordinarily busy hurricane season has drawn attention to the role of climate change, which scientists say is driving wetter, stronger and more destructive storms.
