In the path of 6 storms in 2020, Louisiana prepares for Delta

NEW ORLEANS — In the city of Lake Charles, La., mounds of debris fromHurricane Laura, which devastated the area in August, lined roadsides all over Calcasieu Parish.

Yet on Thursday, weary residents prepared, along with the rest of southwest Louisiana, for yet another roundof serious trouble spinning up from the Gulf of Mexico.

As ofThursday afternoon, Hurricane Delta, the 25th named storm of the 2020 Atlantic hurricane season, was about 345miles from the Louisiana coast, churning slowly northwestward at 12 mph on a path that could end up strafing Lake Charles again.

BryanBeam, the administrator of Calcasieu Parish, whose seat is Lake Charles, sounded as if he had had enough.

“It’s like a boxer going in the

ring a few weeks later after getting pounded,” he said. “You can only take somuch in a short period of time. We’re a very resilient people. But it’s very tough right now.”

Louisiana has been in the path of six major storms since June.

Hurricane Delta has already ravaged southeastern Mexico

near the tip of the Yucatán Peninsula, making landfall there early Wednesday.

The hurricane, which had grown to a Category 4 before weakening, is expected to strengthen again and make landfall along the Louisiana coastline Friday afternoon or evening, said Dennis Feltgen, a meteorologist and spokesperson for theU.S. National Hurricane Center. It could bring 5-10 inches of rain.

Hurricane conditions and a life-threatening storm surge were expected along a wide swath of the northern Gulf Coast. A hurricane warning was in effect from High Island, Texas, to Morgan City, La., and wind and storm surgewarnings and watcheswere in place for several more areas, the National Hurricane Center said.

This week, at least three parishes in Louisiana were under a mandatory evacuation, including Calcasieu Parish, Cameron Parish and Jefferson Davis Parish. Several more parishes were under a voluntary evacuation.

Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards and AlabamaGov. Kay Ivey both declared states of emergency Tuesday, and Edwards said Wednesday that President Donald Trump had approved Louisiana’s request for federal emergency declaration before the storm hit.

Pedro Pardo / AFP / Tribune News Service A worker repairs a street light damaged by Hurricane Delta on Thursday in Cancun, Mexico. After crossing the Yucatán Peninsula onWednesday, Delta is expected to strike Louisiana on Friday afternoon or evening.

Chandan Khanna / AFP via Getty Images People in Lake Charles, La., line up Thursday to board a bus for evacuation before the arrival of Hurricane Delta.