Hurricane Nate: State of emergency declared in parts of US as storm hurtles towards Gulf Coast

Nate: View of the beach before the arrival of the storm, in Cancun, as a state of emergency is declared in some parts of the US
AFP/Getty Images
Chloe Chaplain7 October 2017

A state of emergency has been declared across parts of the US as Hurricane Nate hurtled towards the Gulf Coast, threatening strong winds and surges.

The Category 1 hurricane was expected to strengthen on Saturday after killing at least 25 people as it swept across Central America.

Nate was churning toward the central Gulf of Mexico as New Orleans evacuated some residents from areas outside its levee system.

"Nate is at our doorstep or will be soon," New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu said.

Devastating hurricane season: Tropical Storm Nate was speeding toward the US Gulf Coast
AFP/Getty Images

The greatest threat from this particular storm is not rain, but strong winds and storm surge, Landrieu said.

The winds could cause significant power outages, and storm surges are projected to be six to nine feet (1.8 to 2.7 metres) high, he added.

Warning: Mayor Mitch Landrieu of New Orleans address the media as the city prepares for Tropical Storm Nate
Getty Images

"We have been through this many, many times. There is no need to panic," Landrieu told a news conference.

The storm brushed by Mexico's Yucatan peninsula, home to beach resorts such as Cancun and Playa del Carmen, as it headed north, the U.S. National Hurricane Center in Miami said.

A view of a sinkhole on the street after the passage of tropical storm Nate in San Juan del Sur's bay in Rivas, 140kms west Managua, Nicaragua
EPA

Nate packed maximum sustained winds of 80 miles per hour (130 kmh) and was about 420 miles (675 km) south-southeast of the Mississippi river on Saturday as it was expected to strengthen, the NHC said.

In the US, a state of emergency was declared for 29 Florida counties and states near Nate's path - Alabama, Louisiana and Mississippi - as well as the city of New Orleans, which was devastated by Hurricane Katrina in 2005.

A man rows on a boat in a flooded street in Minatitlan, south Veracruz, Mexico as Tropical Storm Nate heads to the Yucatan peninsula
EPA

The NHC issued a hurricane watch from Grand Isle, Louisiana to the Alabama-Florida border.

"By Saturday noon you should be in your safe place," Alabama Governor Kay Ivey told a news conference. "This is a fast-moving storm and we must begin preparing now."

On Friday evening, Nate moved north-northwest at 22 miles per hour (35 kmh), a fast pace which if maintained could mean the storm does less damage when it hits land.

The storm doused Central America with heavy rains on Thursday, killing at least 12 people in Nicaragua, nine in Costa Rica, two in Honduras and two in El Salvador, local authorities said.

Thousands were forced to evacuate their homes and Costa Rica's government declared a state of emergency.

Through Monday, Nate is expected to produce two to four inches (5 to 10 cm) more rain in eastern Yucatan and western Cuba and three to six inches (8 to 15 inches) in the U.S. central Gulf Coast.

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