Southeast hit again
Even as storm fades, more than 100,000 are without power
Nate faded to a tropical depression Sunday as it moved inland from the Gulf Coast, a relief to a region still reeling from hurricanes Harvey, Irma and Maria. Still, much of the Southeast battled heavy winds and braced for as much as 10 inches of rain into Monday.
The remnants of Hurricane Nate lashed much of the Southeast with 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 neighborhood streets.
Nate slammed through a region suffering from hurricane exhaustion in recent weeks after Harvey, Irma and Maria. More than 5 million people remained on 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.”
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 and Monday.
Still, the storm’s weakening came as good news to hurricane-weary residents in four Gulf Coast states, which had declared emergency measures, including evacuations, curfews, beach closures and traffic blockades at flood-prone 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 and was waiting out the storm at the Forrest County Community Shelter. “It was getting bad. We didn’t want to risk anything,” she said. “They said (Katrina) wasn’t going to be that bad.”
Gov. Phil Bryant declared a state of emergency in six southernmost counties.
In Alabama, 60,000 Alabama Power customers had no electricity early Sunday, most of them in the Mobile area. Flooding was reported in downtown streets.
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,” Waller said, “this wasn’t that bad.”
“We didn’t want to risk anything. They said (Katrina) wasn’t going to be that bad. If (evacuating) is going to keep us safe, I don’t mind.”
Lauren Evans