Hurricane Nate expected to strengthen to Category 2 by landfall on Gulf Coast

A swiftly moving Hurricane Nate strengthened in its race toward the U.S. mainland Saturday and is expected to be a Category 2 hurricane when it strikes the U.S. Gulf Coast between southeast Louisiana and Florida around midnight.

States of emergency were declared in Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama as Nate — which has already killed at least 21 people in Central America — became the latest in a succession of destructive storms this hurricane season.

The National Hurricane Center has issued a hurricane warning for metropolitan New Orleans and Lake Pontchartrain and a coastal stretch from Grand Isle, La., to the Alabama-Florida border.

A tropical storm warning was in effect east of the Okaloosa/Walton County Line in Florida to Indian Pass, Fla.

As of 10 a.m. CDT, the National Hurricane Center said Nate was 180 miles south-southeast of the mouth of the Mississippi River, moving north-northwest at a 26 mph clip, bearing maximum sustained winds of 90 mph.The center said Nate was strengthening in the warm waters of the Gulf and is forecast to be a Category 2 hurricane when the center reaches the Gulf Coast. A Category 2 storm has sustained maximum winds between 96 mph and 110 mph.

Hurricane-force winds extended outwards for up to 35 miles from the center.

The forecast warns of a storm surge up to 9 feet in some areas from the mouth of the Mississippi to the Alabama-Florida border. A storm surge warning was in effect from Morgan City, La., to the Okaloosa-Walton County line in Florida. Also included were the northern and western shores of Lake Pontchartrain.

Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards urged residents to take Nate seriously, saying the storm “has the potential to do a lot of damage.”

“No one should take this storm lightly. It has already claimed the lives of at least 20 people,” Edwards said. “We do want people to be very, very cautious and to not take this storm for granted.”

Edwards said forecasts indicate the greatest risks are winds and storm surge, rather than intense amounts of rain.

That’s good news for New Orleans, where the city’s pumping system remains fragile but working. Two flash floods this summer led to revelations about personnel and equipment problems at the agency that runs the system that drains the city.

New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu said 109 of its 120 pumps are functioning — a 92% capacity. “We are ready for whatever Nate brings our way,” Landrieu said.

Mississippi Gov. Phil Bryant declared a state of emergency in six southernmost counties. State officials, at a briefing Friday in Gulfport, warned that Nate’s main danger will be the up to 10 feet of storm surge in low-lying coastal areas, as well as from winds that could damage mobile homes.

“If you are in an area that has flooded, I would recommend you evacuate that area until the storm has ended and the water has receded for your own personal safety and for the safety of the first responders that will be responding in the event you are trapped,” Bryant said.

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