Major hurricane threatens Louisiana, Florida

Hurricane Delta, the 25th named Atlantic storm this year, is moving toward the Gulf of Mexico and is expected to take aim at the U.S. Gulf Coast this week as a major hurricane, the National Hurricane Center said.

If Delta strikes the U.S. Gulf Coast, it would break a record that dates back to 1916 for the most named storms to hit the United States, another milestone in a year marked by repeated natural disasters, ranging from floods to wildfires to tornados.

The storm was expected to drop heavy rains on Mexico’s Yucatan peninsula and head up the Gulf of Mexico toward landfall between Louisiana and Florida, possibly becoming a Category 4 hurricane on Thursday with catastrophic damage to properties in its path.

Delta was 115 miles south southwest of the Grand Cayman Islands on Tuesday “in the midst of a very impressive rapid intensification episode” with 175 kilometre-per-hour winds, NHC forecaster Eric Blake said. Wind speeds could reach 209 kilometres per hour by Thursday.

It was the 25th named storm of the Atlantic hurricane season, which runs from June 1 to Nov. 30.

There have been so many Atlantic storms this year that forecasters have run out of prechosen names, turning to the Greek alphabet for the most recent. If Delta hits the coast, it would be the 10th named storm to strike the United States.

“This will be an impactful hurricane,” said Dan Kottlowski, lead hurricane forecaster at AccuWeather. Warm water and a lack of wind shear will allow the storm to quickly strengthen, he said.

Delta’s winds also could bring 30-foot seas to areas off the Louisiana coast, Kottlowski said, affecting shipping traffic and oil and gas production.

Gulf of Mexico oil and gas producers Chevron Corp., BP PLC, BHP Group and Occidental Petroleum have begun removing staff and securing offshore facilities.

Cuba’s western province of Pinar del Rio and the Island of Youth also hunkered down in expectation of tropical storm conditions. Cuba’s Civil Defense ordered schools there to close, suspended local transportation and announced the evacuation of coastal areas at risk of a storm surge.