Louisiana and Mississippi faces Hurricane Zeta

Photo credit to the Weather Channel

Hurricane Zeta landed on southeastern Louisiana and Mississippi with high winds and heavy rain, along with life-threatening storm surge. The Category 2 storm had winds of 110 mph but has decreased to 100 mph. It is moving at around 25 mph, and that speed is expected to increase Wednesday evening.

Eye of the storm passed over New Orleans at around 7:30 PM. More than 400,000 customers are without power in Louisiana and Mississippi, with more than 80,000 power outages in New Orleans alone.

Because of how fast Zeta is moving, more states inland will be affected by the storm. When Zeta turns into a tropical storm, it will affect parts of Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, North and South Carolinas, and Tennessee.

Zeta is the 27th storm of this hurricane season. In 2005, there were 28 storms. As a result of the storm, some of the parishes have issued curfews for Wednesday evening, especially in St. Bernard parish, where it is receiving “the full brunt of Zeta.” Already, telephone poles are down, and some parishes are impassable.

Other parishes have issued evacuation orders, and even New Orleans have called for voluntary evacuations. Zeta is the first direct hit storm for New Orleans, but New Orleans had been on the outskirts of several storms this year.

With evacuees still recovering from past storms, Zeta is an unwelcome visitor. As such, more than 1,500 National Guard members and 5,000 lineament have been activated and staged for recovery efforts Thursday morning.

When Zeta struck the Yucatan peninsula on Monday night as a category 1 hurricane, trees were toppled, and much of the region faced heavy winds. The region is still recovering from hurricane Delta, just three weeks earlier, and days before Delta, was also hit by tropical storm Gamma. It is safe to say that this isn’t a great year to live on the Yucatan peninsula.

As global warming continues its rapid ascent, those living in these areas will be facing stronger, and more frequent storms as this, and governmental assistance might not be enough at a certain point.

This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed in whole or part with out the express written permission.