
Bloomberg
Tropical Storm Nate was heading inland over the southern US states of Mississippi and Alabama after the National Hurricane Center downgraded it from a Category 1 hurricane, the latest in an unusually ferocious storm season that’s racked up billions in damages.
With top winds of 70 miles per hour, Nate was moving north-northeast at 23 mph, the hurricane centre said.
Based on its forecast track, Nate will turn towards the northeast with an increase in speed as it moves across the Deep South, Tennessee Valley, and central Appalachian Mountains through Monday, the centre said in an advisory.
Nate is expected to weaken quickly as it moves farther from the sea, before dissipating late Monday, the hurricane center said. The storm was downgraded following its second landfall on Sunday, near Biloxi, Mississippi, after it crashed ashore on Louisiana’s southeast coast on Saturday night. “There is going to be flooding and wind damage in New Orleans,†said Bob Smerbeck, a meteorologist with AccuWeather Inc. in State College, Pennsylvania. “There will be a risk of tornadoes all the way across the Gulf Coast to the Florida Panhandle.â€
The hurricane warning for the mouth of the Pearl River to the Alabama/Florida border has been discontinued, the center said. The tropical storm warning west of the mouth of the Pearl River, including Metropolitan New Orleans and Lakes Pontchartrain and Maurepas has also been discontinued, it said.
Flooding and landslides caused by Nate have already killed more than 20 people across Central America. The storm may cause as much as $4 billion damage and economic losses across an area of the Gulf Coast dotted with casinos and resorts, said Chuck Watson, a damage modeler with Enki Research in Savannah, Georgia.
The region’s oil and natural gas operators also shuttered production in response to Nate. About 92 percent of US Gulf oil production and 77 percent of natural gas output have been taken offline, the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement said in a notice.
The US Coast Guard suspended marine traffic and closed ports on Saturday, while Magellan Midstream Partners reduced operations at its Marrero, Louisiana, petroleum storage terminal.
According to Colonial Pipeline Co. spokeswoman Malesia Dunn, the storm has had “no impact†on the company’s operations.