Cat 2 Hurricane Delta Comes Ashore in Southwestern Louisiana

Hurricane Delta crashed onshore Friday in southwestern Louisiana as a Category 2 storm, compounding misery along a path of destruction left by Hurricane Laura only six weeks earlier.

The center of the hurricane made landfall about 6 p.m. near the town of Creole with top winds of 100 mph (155 kph), pushing a storm surge that could reach up to 11 feet (3.4 meters), the National Hurricane Center said.

As the 10th named storm to strike the continental U.S. this year, Delta’s arrival snapped a century-old record.

People in south Louisiana steeled themselves as Delta delivered driving rain, powerful winds, and rising water to a part of the state still recovering from a deadly catastrophic hurricane six weeks ago. Power outages in Louisiana and neighboring Texas soared past 203,000 homes and businesses Friday shortly after the storm came ashore, according to the tracking website PowerOutage.us.

The Hurricane Center said wind gusts in Lake Arthur, Louisiana, reached 96 mph (154 kph) as Delta made landfall. Storm surge reached 8 feet (2.4 meters) east of Cameron, a sparely populated coastal community devastated by 2005′s Hurricane Rita and Hurricane Ike in 2008.

Accuweather Extreme Meteorologist Reed Timmer stood at the shore of Lake Arthur as Delta’s eyewall moved onshore around 5 p.m. CDT. The eyewall alone coming onshore does not signal a landfall, but the roaring winds were still enough to drown out Timmer.

Live update Hurricane Delta eye wal pic.twitter.com/uQzfYW0Zlx

— Reed Timmer (@ReedTimmerAccu) October 9, 2020

"Six storms in just four months," said Bill Bowers, Lafayette resident. "That's an oddity, never seen that before."

The Pelican State is still recovering from the effects of Hurricane Laura. 

Preparations for the arrival of Hurricane #Delta need to be rushed to completion, with tropical-storm-force winds expected to reach the coast in the next couple of hours, making preparations dangerous or impossible to complete. pic.twitter.com/au1F6bV5dS

— National Hurricane Center (@NHC_Atlantic) October 9, 2020

"We are still reeling from the 5th strongest hurricane to hit the US in modern history," said Lake Charles Mayor Nic Hunter. "Strongest hurricane to hit Louisiana in 150 years and to have anything like this come in our way is very scary at the moment." 

CBN Contributor Chuck Holton is in Southern Louisiana where he says there's a concern in the hard-hit city of Lake Charles about the debris left behind by Laura. 

"There is still about a million and a half tons of debris laying around Lake Charles that will now become ammunition for Hurricane Delta and will make it that much more dangerous even if the winds don't reach the same speeds as they did six weeks ago," Holton said. 

"Josh Guillory the mayor of Lafayette, Louisiana told his people today that proper planning prevents poor performance. That's an axiom he learned in the military and it's very appropriate now because these people are now preparing for their sixth hurricane of the season and they are getting very tired of that, I can promise you," Holton said.

Hurricane Delta is expected to be a Category 2 when it makes landfall. CBN's Operation Blessing will move into the area to help those hit by the storm. 

To give to Operation Blessing's Disaster Relief fund, call: 1-800-700-7000 or CLICK HERE.

"The greatest need as always is volunteers for our teams down there. As far as the families in the area, the greatest need then will be food and water and proper housing for them, making sure that if the wind is as bad as Hurricane Laura that we have people in place to do tarping and debris removal," Operation Blessing's Scott Phillips said. 

Delta is predicted to make landfall near Lake Charles Friday evening on Louisiana's SW coast. Parts of the state are under a mandatory evacuation. 

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