⁍ Hurricane Zeta poised to crash into Louisiana on Wednesday with a ‘life-threatening storm surge’ and winds that will reach far inland.
⁍ New Orleans halted city and transit services and advised residents living outside the state’s protective levee system to leave for higher ground.
⁍ Coastal and low-lying communities along the state’s Gulf Coast called for mandatory evacuations.
– A state of emergency has been declared in Louisiana ahead of Hurricane Zeta, which is expected to make landfall in the state Wednesday afternoon, the AP reports. Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards says the state has activated 1,400 members of the Louisiana National Guard, closed more than 200 floodgates to prevent flooding, and ordered evacuations from low-lying communities along the state’s Gulf Coast. Oil and gas producers have evacuated 157 offshore production facilities and shut down more than 150 wells producing more than 900,000 barrels of oil and 1.5 billion cubic feet of natural gas. The National Hurricane Center says Zeta is expected to be a “significant hurricane” when it makes landfall, Reuters reports. The storm is expected to be the fifth to hit Louisiana this year.
Source: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-storm-zeta-louisiana/zeta-roars-out-of-us-gulf-of-mexico-bringing-100-mph-winds-to-coast-idUSKBN27D28K