Nate takes aim at Mexico, United States after dousing Central America

Tropical Storm Nate gained force as it roared toward Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula on Friday after drenching Central America in rain that was blamed for at least 21 deaths. Forecasters said it is likely to reach the U.S. Gulf Coast as a hurricane over the weekend.

Louisiana officials declared a state of emergency and ordered some people to evacuate coastal areas and barrier islands ahead of its expected landfall early Sunday, and evacuations began at some offshore oil platforms in the Gulf.

The U.S. National Hurricane Center said Nate could cause dangerous flooding by dumping as much as 18 to 25 centimetres of rain as it moved over Honduras, with higher accumulations in a few places.

It had maximum sustained winds of 85 km/h by Friday morning and was likely to strengthen over the northwestern Caribbean Sea on Friday before a possible strike on the Cancun region at the tip of Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula at near-hurricane strength. It could hit the U.S. Gulf coast near New Orleans. The storm was located about 280 kilometres southeast of Cozumel, Mexico and had accelerated its northnorthwest movement to 33 km/h.

In Nicaragua, Nate’s arrival followed two weeks of nearconstant rain that had left the ground saturated and rivers swollen. Authorities placed the whole country on alert and warned of flooding and landslides.

Nicaragua’s vice-president and spokeswoman, Rosario Murillo, said that at least 11 people had died in that country due to the storm. Earlier Thursday she had said 15 people had died before later revising to say some of those were still counted as missing. She didn’t give details on all the deaths, but said two women and a man who worked for the Health Ministry were swept away by a flooded canal in the central municipality of Juigalpa.

Costa Rica’s Judicial Investigation Organism blamed seven deaths in that country on the storm and said 15 people were missing. Flooding drove 5,000 residents into emergency shelters.

In Honduras, there were three dead and three missing, according to Oscar Triminio, spokesman for the country’s firefighters.