Hurricane Delta enters Gulf after lashing Mexico

CANCUN — Hurricane Delta emerged into the Gulf of Mexico on Wednesday and headed toward Louisiana after making landfall just south of the Mexican resort of Cancun, toppling trees and cutting power to residents of the Yucatan peninsula’s resort-studded coast.

The U.S. National Hurricane Center in Miami said Delta had weakened to a Category 1 storm by late afternoon, with maximum sustained winds of 85 mph, but it was expected to gain strengthen again before lashing the U.S. Gulf coast. It was centered about 55 miles northnortheast of Puerto Progreso, just off the northern edge of the peninsula,and heading northwest at 17 mph.

Delta could make landfall, possibly as a Category 3 storm, sometime Friday south of Morgan City, La.