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Hurricane Delta Expected To Affect Most Of Louisiana

Courtesy: NWS_New Orleans

HURRICANE DELTA UPDATE -   Louisiana is bracing for a  hurricane  for  the sixth time  of  the unprecedented 2020 hurricane season.  Forecasters say Hurricane Delta should make landfall in the state sometime Friday afternoon  and  could  bring  winds  of well over 100 miles per hour.  Yesterday emergency officials ordered evacuations for several southern Louisiana parishes as Category 4  Hurricane  Laura devastated Lake Charles in late August.   Some parish officials further north have recommended voluntary evacuations as the storm is expected to maintain hurricane status as it makes its way through Louisiana.  During yesterday’s press briefing  Governor John Bel Edwards pointed out that while the immediate concern is along Louisiana’s coastal region,  people further north should also get prepared for severe weather.

"In fact we don't expect the hurricane to become a tropical storm until just about the time it exits northeast Louisiana." Gov. John Bel Edwards

Credit Courtesy: LPB
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Courtesy: LPB
Gov. John Bel Edwards urged all Louisianans to prepare for hurricane Delta as it is expected to impact most of the state.

"We're not just speaking to Louisiana residents to the coastal area of our state," Edwards said. "We're speaking to everybody in the state of Louisiana today. In fact we don't expect the hurricane to become a tropical storm until just about the time it exits northeast Louisiana."

Edwards urged everyone  living in South Louisiana, to be prepared and in place for weathering the storm by Thursday evening.  As for how  long it will take Hurricane Delta to move through the state,  Ben Schott, meteorologist with the National Weather Service in New Orleans gave this estimate.

Credit Courtesy: LPB
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Courtesy: LPB
Ben Schott, Meteorologist - National Weather Service / New Orleans

      "It's going to be a fast-moving storm so with it's speed right now as it makes landfall and moves through the state, somewhere maybe even greater than 15 miles-per-hour," Schott explained.  "We may only see impacts for a window of about 12 to maybe 15 hours before it works its way through."

For weather updates  you can text Hurricane Delta  to this number  67283  to get the latest  storm  information,  AND to help get prepared there’s the website:   www.getagameplan.org.

For hurricane tracking and forecasts : weather.gov/NewOrleans

Chuck Smith brings more than 30 years' broadcast and media experience to Red River Radio. He began his career as a radio news reporter and transitioned to television journalism and newsmagazine production. Chuck studied mass communications at Southern Arkansas University in Magnolia and motion picture / television production at the University of California at Los Angeles. He has also taught writing for television at York Technical College in Rock Hill, South Carolina and video / film production at Centenary College of Louisiana, Shreveport.