DELTA POUNDS STORM-WEARY LOUISIANA
Hurricane Delta crashed onshore Friday in southwestern Louisiana as a Category 2 storm, ripping tarps from already damaged roofs and slinging debris piled by roads along a path of destruction inflicted by Hurricane Laura only six weeks earlier.
The center of the hurricane made landfall about 6 p.m. near the town of Creole — about 15 miles from where Laura struck in August.
Delta hit with top winds of 100 mph but rapidly grew weaker. Within an hour of hitting land, the National Hurricane Center downgraded it to a Category 1 storm with 85 mph winds.
Still, forecasters warned that Delta was pounding the coast with life-threatening storm surge that could reach up to 11 feet. Flash flood warnings were posted for much of southwest Louisiana and parts of neighboring Texas.
In the city of Lake Charles, about 30 miles inland from where Delta made landfall, winds lashed at tarp-covered roofs of buildings that Hurricane Laura battered when it barreled through in late August and killed at least 27 people in the state.
Ernest Jack lay in bed trying to sleep as water leaked through the ceiling of his Lake Charles home while Delta marched inland Friday night. He said the tarp he had used to cover his damaged roof after Laura hadn’t blown off and his windows were covered to protect against flying debris.
“It’s raining real hard; it’s flooding; the wind is strong,” Jack said. “I’m OK. I’m not worried about nothing, just praying that everything goes well.”
Lake Charles Mayor Nic Hunter said the latest storm was tearing tarps off homes across the city — where he estimated 95 percent of buildings suffered damage from Laura. Piles of moldy mattresses, sawed-up trees and other leftover debris lined the city’s largely vacant streets when Delta arrived. Hunter said some of that debris was being blown around and floating in streets.
The hurricane was expected to weaken rapidly over land. Forecasters predicted Delta would be downgraded to a tropical storm overnight. The storm’s projected path showed it moving into northern Mississippi today.