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Hurricane Delta will make landfall along the Gulf Coast sometime Friday evening. If you’re reading this and you’re in an area where an evacuation order has been put into place, you need to stop what you’re doing and get away from the shore. Secure family and pets, and don’t waste time on physical possessions.
If you are near shore when the storm makes landfall, you could be caught in a deadly eleven-foot storm surge.
Surprising many meteorologists, Delta is likely to make landfall as a full-blown Category 3 hurricane, much stronger than initially anticipated. This means that the storm is sporting sustained winds topping 111 miles per hour. This is considered a “major” hurricane, and its impact along the Gulf Coast could be catastrophic.
For parts of coastal Louisiana, Hurricane Delta is the second of a one-two punch that started with Hurricane Laura. Cameron Parish, Louisiana was impacted severely by Laura in August.
Now, the region fears that Delta could wreak much the same havoc on an already-exhausted region. The region has also not been spared by the COVID-19 pandemic, which has caused people to lose their jobs and even their lives as the virus raced through the population.
Delta is forecast to be a major storm at landfall. Meteorologists expect it to bring an 11-foot storm surge to shore, and could cause rivers in the region to jump their banks.
Storm surge that high can rush inland and sweep away small structures and vehicles. Not to mention, the risk of dangerous flooding is exacerbated by torrential rainfall.
Delta will be the tenth named storm to make landfall in the US this season, a record-breaking mark. In 1916, nine hurricanes made landfall during the Atlantic hurricane season. This is also the first time in over a century that Western Louisiana has seen two hurricanes in the same season.
Notably, this is also the fourth storm of this season to make landfall in Louisiana. The Pelican State is far from wealthy, and this many damaging storms back-to-back has had a noticeable impact on the state’s economy. This is part of why so many in Louisiana’s government have been hoping for another relief bill to provide them with federal aid.
Delta was the fastest storm to be named twenty-fifth in a season. It’s also unusually small, fast-moving and strong for occurring so late in the season. It’s further north and west than the average October hurricane, making it a rare occurrence in numerous ways.
