Lake Charles expected to be first place hit by major hurricane twice in one season when Hurricane Delta makes landfall

‘They never had time to recover from Laura and now this next storm is hitting them’

Hurricane Delta is scheduled to make landfall in Louisiana on Friday evening, after strengthening to a Category 3 hurricane overnight as it made its way over the Gulf of Mexico.

Delta is expected to make landfall between the cities of Lake Charles and Lafayette. The area was badly affected by Hurricane Laura in August and more than 8,000 residents are still living in temporary accommodations after their homes were damaged by that hurricane.

Lake Charles is expected to be first place hit by major hurricane twice in one season if Delta makes landfall there as expected on Friday, according to NBC.

Delta, which was classified as a Category 4 hurricane earlier in the week, weakened on its way to Mexico on Tuesday and was downgraded to a Category 2 by the time it made landfall in the country on Wednesday.

However, overnight, as it made its way over the Gulf of Mexico towards the US, Delta was upgraded back to a Category 3 hurricane, with wind speeds of up to 120mph.

Rainfall from the hurricane is expected to measure between 5 to 10 inches from Friday into Saturday, and is likely to cause flooding in affected areas in Louisiana and the northern Gulf Coast, according to The Hill.

On Friday morning, the National Hurricane Centre warned that Delta is “expected to Bring Hurricane Conditions and a Life-Threatening Storm Surge to Portions of the Northern Gulf Coast Later Today”.

Cathy Evans, whose daughter’s family had to move out of their home in Lake Charles due to the damage caused by Laura in August, told Reuters: “They never had time to recover from Laura and now this next storm is hitting them.

“They never had time to get back on their feet and they didn’t think they could survive the second one.”

A Louisiana resident told NBC: “Emotionally, I think everybody is just battered and worn down right now.” 

On Thursday evening, Louisiana governor John Bel Edwards wrote on Twitter that the state had “activated more than 2,400 men and women soldiers” in a “Herculean effort” to prepare for the hurricane.

“I know people in Louisiana, especially the southwest, are very strong and very resilient, but they are going to be tested here,” the governor added during a press conference.

Delta made landfall in Mexico on Wednesday morning with wind speeds of up to 110mph, and knocked out power for one third of residents of the Yucatan peninsula, according to the Associated Press.

The hurricane also forced hundreds of tourists to take refuge in storm shelters in Mexico’s resort-heavy coast, but Carlos Joaquín González, the governor of the state of Quintana Roo, said there were no reports of any deaths or injuries.

When Delta makes its expected landfall in Louisiana on Friday, it will be the tenth to hit the US in one year, breaking a record that has stood since 1916.