Washington, The Category 2 hurricane Delta has made landfall on the US Gulf Coast with winds of 160 km per hour and leaving hundreds of thousands of people in Louisiana and Texas without electricity, the National Hurricane Center (NHC) said.
Delta lost intensity as it made landfall on Friday night, but not quickly enough to make a significant difference in its immediate effects, Xinhua news agency quoted the NHC forecasters as saying.
Storm surge caused by the storm is expected to reach as high as 3.4 metres along Louisiana’s coastline.
Earlier on Friday, Delta brought rain of more than 23 cm on the state capital of Baton Rouge, Denham Springs and Zachary, causing widespread flooding.
In the city of Lake Charles, flash flood warnings were issued before the landfall.
“We’re right in the thick of it,” the city’s Mayor Nic Hunter told CNN, adding: “It’s intense.”
About 5.5 million people are under flash flood watches from Louisiana through southwest Tennessee.
According to tracking website poweroutage.us, electricity was out in more than 453,000 homes and businesses.
During Friday afternoon’s news conference, Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwards said thousands of National Guard troops, utility workers and other emergency responders were prepared to respond to Delta’s expected damage.
Edwards said that as of midday Friday, the state was housing 9,537 evacuees, most of whom are still being sheltered after Laura’s devastating damage in Calcasieu and Cameron parishes.
Delta is the 10th named storm to make landfall in the US in a single hurricane season, an all-time record.
In late August, Category 4 Hurricane Laura made landfall in Louisiana, killing over 40 people.
Delta continued the record-breaking theme of the current hurricane season, becoming the earliest storm to be named Delta.
The Greek alphabet is tapped for names after the predetermined 21 names have been used.
The previous record-holding Delta storm formed on November 15, 2005.
