Hurricane Nate strikes Mississippi coast
Louisiana, Miss., Alabama, expect inundating rainfall
NEW ORLEANS — Hurricane Nate came ashore on a sparsely populated area at the mouth of the Mississippi River on Saturday and closed in on Mississippi, pelting the central Gulf Coast region with strong winds and heavy rains.
Nate was forecast to make its second landfall near Biloxi, Mississippi, and threatened to inundate homes and businesses.
The center of the storm passed to the east of New Orleans, sparing the city its most ferocious winds and storm surge. And its quick speed lessened the likelihood of prolonged rain that would tax the city’s weakened drainage pump system.
The city famous for allnight partying was placed under a curfew, effective at 7 p.m., but the mayor lifted it when it appeared the storm would cause little problems for the city. Still, the streets were not nearly as crowded as they typically are on a Saturday night.
Along the Mississippi coast, cities such as Gulfport and Biloxi were on high alert. Some beachfront hotels and casinos were evacuated Forecasters called for 3 to 6 inches of rain with up to 10 inches in some isolated places.
Nate weakened slightly and was a Category 1 storm with maximum winds of 85 mph when it made landfall in a sparsely populated area of Plaquemines Parish. Forecasters had said it was possible that it could strengthen to a Category 2, but that seemed less likely as the night wore on.
Storm surge threatens low-lying communities in southeast Louisiana, eastward, Alabama.
“If it floods again, this will be it,” said Larry Bertron as said as he and his wife prepared to leave their home in the Braithwaite community of vulnerable Plaquemines Parish. The hurricane veterans lost one home to Hurricane Katrina and left the home they rebuilt after Hurricane Isaac in 2012.
Governors in Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama declared states of emergency. The three states have been mostly spared during this hectic hurricane season.
“This is the worst hurricane that has impacted Mississippi since Hurricane Katrina,” Mississippi Emergency Management Director Lee Smithson said Saturday. “Everyone needs to understand that, that this is a significantly dangerous situation.”
Five people were rescued from two sailboats in choppy waters before the storm. Two sailors on a 41-foot sail boat were saved on Lake Pontchartrain and another boat hit rocks in the Mississippi Sound and three people had to be plucked from the water.
Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards urged residents to make final preparations quickly and stressed that Nate may bring storm surge reaching up to 11 feet in some coastal areas.
“It’s going to hit and move through our area at a relatively fast rate, limiting the amount of time it’s going to drop rain,” Edwards said. “But this is a very dangerous storm nonetheless.”
Streets in low-lying areas of Louisiana were already flooded. Places outside of levee protections were under mandatory evacuation orders and shelters opened there.
Some people worried about New Orleans’ pumping system, which had problems during a heavy thunderstorm on Aug. 5. The deluge exposed system weaknesses — including the failure of some pumps and power-generating turbines — and homes and businesses f looded. Repairs have been made but the system remained below maximum pumping capacity.
At 9 p.m. MDT Saturday, Nate was about 35 miles southwest of the mouth of the Mississippi River. The storm was expected to quickly weaken as it cuts a path through the Southeast on its way to the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast regions, which could see impacts from Nate early next week.
Nate killed at least 21 people after strafing Central America.