Away from politics, hurricanes continue to sweep across the south. The Associated Press has the latest:
Tearing fabrics from damaged surfaces and littering huge piles of storm debris in the wind and water, Hurricane Delta is wreaking a new round of devastation in Louisiana communities still reeling along a trajectory given by Hurricane Laura just six weeks ago.
The delta was struck as a Category 2 hurricane, with maximum winds reaching 100 mph (155 km / h) before weakening rapidly over land. By Saturday morning, it had diminished to a tropical storm with winds of 45 mph (75 km / h), but storms and flash floods continued to pose hazards across most of southwestern Louisiana and parts of neighboring Texas. Mississippi also got its fair share of rain overnight.
The delta fell on Friday evening near the coastal town of Creole, just 15 miles (24 km) or so from where Laura hit the ground in August, killing 27 people in Louisiana. It then moved directly over Lake Charles, a waterfront city about 30 miles (50 km) inland where the previous hurricane destroyed nearly every home and building, and where rotting mattresses, cut trees and other debris still line the streets.
Lake Charles Mayor Nick Hunter spoke with the Associated Press as he drove the delta’s reach downtown.
Hunter said that fabrics were flying from homes all over the city, piles of debris were flying around, some of it floating in the high waters of the ocean.
“I’m in a building now with tarpaulins,” Hunter said, “and just the sound of the boat flying over the building looks like someone is hitting a sledgehammer over the building.” “It is very severe.”
Water seeped through the ceiling of Ernest Jack’s bedroom in Lake Charles as he tried to sleep in the middle of the storm. Jack said the tarp covering Laura’s roof damage had not been blown off. Its windows were covered to protect from flying debris.
“It’s raining hard; it’s a flood,” said Jack Friday night, “The wind is strong.” “I’m fine. I’m not worried about anything, just praying everything goes well. “
Delta, the 25th storm in the unprecedented Atlantic hurricane season, set records when it hit the Gulf Coast. It was the first hurricane bearing the Greek alphabet to hit the continental United States. It became the tenth storm to hit the US mainland this year, breaking the century-old record set in 1916, according to Colorado State University researcher Phil Klotzbach.
Delta was the fourth named storm to hit Louisiana in 2020.
