Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Hurricane Nate makes landfall
In New Orleans, some shrug even as evacuations ordered
Gulf coast residents feeling prepared as deadly storm comes ashore at mouth of Mississippi.
NEW ORLEANS —Hurricane Nate pelted the Gulf Coast with wind and heavy bands of rain Saturday as it made landfall at the mouth of the Mississippi River, in the latest of a series of deadly storms this season.
Officials repeatedly warned residents to take the storm seriously, in a repeat of a drill that caused thousands of evacuations from Louisiana in August. By early evening Saturday, Nate, which made landfall about 8 p.m. EDT, had maximum wind speeds of about 90 mph and threats of storm surges up to 11 feet. Mandatory evacuations were put in place for parts of New Orleans, and communities across Mississippi and Alabama opened shelters for residents.
Nate has already been blamed for 25 deaths in Central America as it swept through the Gulf of Mexico last week. It is the ninth hurricane to form in the Atlantic this season, which is the highest total since the infamous 2012 season that featured Superstorm Sandy.
Here, longtime residents, especially those who had survived Hurricane Katrina in 2005, seemed to be listening, stocking up on water, food and gasoline. But on Saturday afternoon the streets in the French Quarter were full of tourists.
Brenda Rushton from Toronto laughed as she took shelter under a Bourbon Street balcony.
“It’s on my bucket list to be in a hurricane,” the 55-year-old exclaimed. She and her two sisters spent the morning drinking hurricane cocktails at Pat O’Brien’s down the street. They planned to ride out the rest of Nate from their hotel bar.
“You party till you can’t party any more in New Orleans,” said native Kay Hayes. Earlier Saturday morning, she was directing several thousands of people on a breast cancer cure walk. “This is who we are. We’ll take care of each other.”
That sentiment is what New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu tried to encourage as he declared a 7 p.m. to 7 a.m. curfew for the city, warning residents and the 40,000 visitors to stay inside.
“This storm should not bring us anything we are not prepared to handle, presuming we all cooperate,” he said Saturday morning from a new hurricane-hardened fire station. Landrieu urged residents to avoid the shores of Lake Pontchartrain, which sometimes draws daredevil surfers after a storm. He earlier declared an evacuation from three neighborhoods that lie outside the levees that protect the rest of the city.
“This is one of the most vulnerable areas of the city,” he said under threatening skies. “You are at high risk if you are on this side of the flood wall ... and you’ve got an acute risk tonight.”
But Landrieu’s rhetoric had limited impact; Nancy Bell, president of the Venetian Isles homeowners association, said about half of the 275 homes there remained occupied.
“In Katrina, we had an 18-foot storm surge here and water didn’t get into my main living area,” said the 25-year resident who elevated her house after Katrina, put up hurricane shutters and has a generator with extra fuel. “From what they’re saying, this is likely to be a hit-and-run storm. It would take you longer to get away.”
Landrieu said although 11 of the 120 city’s drainage pumps were not operating, it is enough to keep most of the city dry.
Officials have been in contact with every nursing home in New Orleans, he said, to ensure each one has generators and fuel. The city has also made a major sweep of known homeless encampments.
Gov. John Bel Edwards said in a midday news conference that he spoke with President Donald Trump, who promised him that federal resources were at the ready. Trump had signed a pre-storm emergency declaration to empower the Federal Emergency Management Agency to coordinate relief efforts. The state National Guard, meanwhile, has mobilized 1,300 troops and positioned high-water vehicles, boats and other vehicles throughout the area.
Despite the governor’s warning to hunker down by 3 p.m. local time, traffic on Interstate 10 through the city was busy throughout the afternoon rain as the outer bands of the hurricane swept into the city.
At the Flying J truck stop in Gulfport, Miss., cashier Cindy Fitzhugh yelled, “I need some help,” as a line of customers stocking up on supplies stretched toward the back of the store.
Fitzhugh, like many in this area, lost everything she owned during Katrina, so the latest storm had her on edge.
So far, she has been too busy working to make preparations at home. Her biggest priority was making sure the store’s cooler stayed stocked with ice and everyone else got what they needed quickly so they could get home safely.
“I get off soon, I think, I hope,” she said, laughing nervously.
Outside, a brisk breeze blew and gray skies prevailed as friends Zack Moore and Coley Oberg filled their four-wheelers with gas, not because of the storm but because it’s Saturday.
“We’ve got plenty of beer and moonshine in the fridge, so we’ll be fine,” Moore said, laughing.