The National Hurricane Center is now anticipating Hurricane Delta will be a Category Three storm as it approaches the Bayou State on Friday. National Weather Service New Orleans Director Ben Schott says the impacts of Delta when it comes onshore will be significant.
“It’s wind field will expand and widen over the course of the next day or two. That can have impacts, both when it comes to damaging wind swath and when it comes to surge,” said Schott.
Delta will cross over the Yucatan today and Schott says once it gets past the peninsula, the forecast models should have a better idea of a potential landfall. Schott says forecasters do expect the storm to weaken as it approaches the Gulf Coast, but…
“I don’t want everyone to use that as a reason to think that this is going to be something that this is not going to be something that’s not going to create significant impacts to where you are or to where you live, because again if you are in that cone right now, you are at risk for life-threatening impacts,” said Schott.
Governor John Bel Edwards admits Delta is another difficult challenge for the state, but that should not prevent us from getting prepared.
“Since early March, it just seems like one thing after another, but the fact of the matter is, we don’t get to pick and choose. This is the hand that we’ve been dealt. What we get to decide is how we play our hand and we have to start playing it right now,” said Edwards.
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