Hurricane Delta takes aim at Louisiana after making landfall in Mexico: Latest forecast

October 7, 2020October 7, 2020 WKXA

ABC NewsBy MAX GOLEMBO, EMILY SHAPIRO and MELISSA GRIFFIN, ABC News

(NEW YORK) — Hurricane Delta is taking aim at the Texas-Louisiana border after making landfall in Mexico as a Category 2 hurricane.

Delta made landfall in Puerto Moreles, Mexico, south of Cancun, on Wednesday morning with winds up to 110 mph.

Delta is now setting its sights on the Gulf Coast, where it’s forecast to make landfall Friday afternoon as a Category 3 hurricane.

The latest track shows landfall near Cameron, Louisiana, close to where Hurricane Laura made landfall in August.

A hurricane watch has been issued for Texas and Louisiana.

A storm surge watch was issued from Texas to the Alabama-Florida border. Storm surge could reach up to 11 feet for parts of coastal Louisiana, including the Morgan City area.

Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards has declared a state of emergency and requested a pre-landfall Federal Declaration of Emergency in a letter to the president.

“Already, we are coordinating with our federal partners to respond, as we have been since the start of the COVID pandemic in March and through several tropical events, including the devastation of Hurricane Laura in Southwest Louisiana. All Louisianans should use today to prepare for Hurricane Delta, heeding the direction of their local leaders when it comes to evacuations,” Edwards said.

Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey has also issued a state of emergency and ordered some evacuations.

After landfall Delta is expected to rapidly weaken to a Category 1 hurricane or tropical storm by Friday evening and into Saturday.

Delta is forecast bring four to eight inches of rain, with isolated spots up to 12 inches, from Lake Charles, Louisiana, to Greenville, Mississippi.

Further north, 2 to 5 inches of rain is forecast for Little Rock to Memphis.

Flash flooding and river flooding is possible, especially across portions of Louisiana and Mississippi.

When Hurricane Delta makes landfall, it will break the record for most storms to make landfall in one season in the continental U.S.

The other nine named storms that made landfall this season were: Tropical Storm Bertha (South Carolina); Tropical Storm Cristobal (Louisiana); Tropical Storm Fay (New Jersey); Hurricane Hanna (Texas); Hurricane Isaias (North Carolina); Hurricane Laura (Louisiana); Tropical Storm Marco (Louisiana), Hurricane Sally (Alabama); and Tropical Storm Beta (Texas).