Rain, flooding batter weary Southeast
Even as storm fades, more than 100,000 are without power
The remnants of Hurricane Nate lashed much of the Southeastwith heavy rains and winds Sunday, fading to a tropical depression but still knocking out power to more than 100,000 people and driving rivers of water through the streets of many communities.
Nate slammed through a region still suffering from hurricane exhaustion in recent weeks after Harvey, Irma and Maria. More than 5 million people remained in a flood watch late Sunday.
New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu said his city planned for the worst, hoped for the best and made out pretty well.
“# NOLA was very fortunate during this weather event,” Landrieu tweeted. “Our thoughts and prayers are with our neighbors in Mississippi who felt the brunt of Nate’s impacts.”
Nate crashed into the Gulf Coast as a Category 1 hurricane Saturday near the mouth of the Mississippi River before making landfall again early Sunday near Biloxi, Miss. The hurricane was the first to make landfall in the state since Katrina devastated much of the Gulf Coast in 2005.
What remained of the hurricane’s eye was forecast to pass over portions of Mississippi, Alabama and Tennessee, dumping as much as 10 inches of rain Sunday andMonday.
Still, the storm’s weakening came as good news to hurricane- weary residents in four Gulf Coast states, which had declared emergency measures, including mandatory evacuations, curfews, beach closures and traffic blockades at floodprone underpasses.
Crews were plucked off drilling rigs in the Gulf of Mexico and other rigs were moved out of the storm’s path before Nate hit.
In Mississippi, storm surge flooded downtown streets in Pascagoula, a city of 22,000 people 20 miles east of Biloxi. Lauren Evans, 19, fled her home Saturday when winds picked up and was waiting out the storm at the Forrest County Community Shelter.
“Itwas getting bad. We didn’t want to risk anything,” she said. “They said ( Katrina) wasn’t going to be that bad. If ( evacuating) is going to keep us safe, I don’tmind.”
Gov. Phil Bryant declared a state of emergency in six southernmost counties. State officials warned that Nate’s main danger was the possibility of up to 10 feet of storm surge in low- lying coastal areas as well as from winds that could damagemobile homes.
“The MS Coast took a hard hit from Nate,” the Mississippi Emergency Management Agency tweeted. “The lack of major damage is a testament to the strong and smart rebuilding since Katrina.”
In Alabama, 60,000 Alabama Power customers had no electricity early Sunday, most in the Mobile area. Flooding was reported in some downtown streets. Gulf Shores reported some street flooding Sunday but lifted its evacuation order.
In Florida, about 10,000 customers lost power, but damage was mild compared with what the state has been through in recent weeks. In Pensacola, Kentucky construction worker Robert Waller had feared his vacation would be ruined by heavy flooding.
“But this wasn’t that bad,” he said.
Contributing: Justin Vicory and Sam R. Hall, The ( Jackson, Miss.) Clarion- Ledger; Ellen Ciurczak and Lici Beveridge, Hattiesburg ( Miss.) American; Joseph Baucum, Pensacola ( Fla.) News Journal; The Associated Press