Now Storm Nate leaves trail of chaos as flooding hits the US

STORM Nate brought flooding and power cuts to the US Gulf Coast yesterday after leaving a trail of death and destruction in Central America.

It made landfall as a hurricane twice yesterday, in Louisiana and Mississippi, before it weakened and was downgraded to a tropical storm.

Despite some storm surge warnings being lifted, there were still scenes of flooding in south-eastern states.

Nate killed at least 25 people in Nicaragua, Costa Rica and Honduras last week. No deaths or injuries have yet been reported in the US.

Although not as strong as last month’s devastating hurricanes Maria and Irma – which ravaged the Caribbean and Florida – the states of Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and parts of Florida had issued warnings and evacuation orders ahead of Nate’s arrival. It is the first hurricane to make landfall in Mississippi since Katrina devastated the region 12 years ago.

Nate hit the state as a category one hurricane with winds reaching 85 mph, but weakened later to a tropical storm as it moved inland, according to the US National Hurricane Center in Miami.

More than 100,000 residents in Mississippi and Alabama were left without power after its arrival. Storm waters also caused flooding in oceanfront properties in Biloxi, Mississippi.

However city spokesman Vincent Creel said they had got off lightly, adding: ‘We are thankful because this looked like it was going to be a freight train barrelling through the city.’

‘Like a freight train through city’