ABC NewsBy MAX GOLEMBO and EMILY SHAPIRO, ABC News
(NEW YORK) — Quick-moving Hurricane Delta is charging toward the Louisiana coast and is forecast to make landfall within hours as a Category 2 hurricane.
Lake Charles, Louisiana, is already seeing very heavy rain and wind gusts up to 60 mph. A flash flooding warning is in effect there.
Landfall is expected between 5 p.m. and 7 p.m. ET near Cameron, Louisiana — the same area hit hard by Hurricane Laura in August.
Louisiana has attributed 30 deaths to Laura, Gov. John Bel Edwards said Friday.
Storm surge — which is especially dangerous — is forecast to be near 11 feet in parts of Louisiana.
The hurricane-force wind gusts are expected to begin this afternoon and last through the evening for parts of southwestern Louisiana, especially from Cameron to Lake Charles. Winds gusts could reach 100 mph in Lake Charles and southern Louisiana.
Louisiana could also see tornadoes through the day.
Rainfall totals could reach 6 to 12 inches Friday, with local areas getting up to 15 inches in southern Louisiana. Flash flooding is expected.
The heavy rain will move inland after landfall, spreading through Louisiana and into parts of Arkansas and Mississippi overnight.
By Saturday morning Delta will have weakened to a tropical storm, but gusty winds and heavy rain will continue north across the Mississippi and Tennessee Valleys through Saturday.
Delta is the fourth named storm to make landfall in Louisiana this year.
When Hurricane Delta makes landfall, it will break the record for most storms to make landfall in one season in the continental U.S.
The other nine named storms that made landfall this season were: Tropical Storm Bertha (South Carolina); Tropical Storm Cristobal (Louisiana); Tropical Storm Fay (New Jersey); Hurricane Hanna (Texas); Hurricane Isaias (North Carolina); Hurricane Laura (Louisiana); Tropical Storm Marco (Louisiana), Hurricane Sally (Alabama); and Tropical Storm Beta (Texas).
Copyright © 2020, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.