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Hurricane Delta inflicts new damage on storm-weary Louisiana

Posted October 09, 2020 7:00 am

By REBECCA SANTANA and STACEY PLAISANCE

This GOES-16 GeoColor satellite image taken Friday, Oct. 9, 2020, at 10:00 a.m. EDT, and provided by NOAA, shows Hurricane Delta in the Gulf of Mexico. Landfall is expected Friday evening. (NOAA via AP) The Associated Press

LAKE CHARLES, La. (AP) - Ripping tarps from already damaged roofs and scattering debris piled by roadsides, Hurricane Delta inflicted a new round of destruction on Louisiana as it struck communities still reeling after Hurricane Laura took a similar path just six weeks earlier.

When Delta came ashore Friday as a Category 2 hurricane, almost all homes and buildings in Lake Charles still bore battered roofs and other damage from Laura. Piles of moldy mattresses, sawed-up trees and other debris still lined the streets.

Mayor Nic Hunter said tarps were flying off homes across the city.

'œI'm in a building right now with a tarp on it and just the sound of the tarp flapping on the building sounds like someone pounding with a sledgehammer on top of the building,'œ Hunter said as he rode out the storm downtown. 'ťIt's pretty intense.'ť

Delta crashed onshore Friday night near the coastal town of Creole - a distance of only about 15 miles (24 kilometers) from where Laura struck land in August, killing 27 people in Louisiana.

In Lake Charles, about 30 miles (50 kilometers) inland from where Delta came ashore, water leaked through the ceiling of Ernest Jack's bedroom as he tried to sleep Friday night. Jack said the tarp covering his roof since Laura damaged his home hadn't blown off. His windows were covered to protect against flying debris.

'œIt's raining real hard; it's flooding; the wind is strong,'ť Jack said Friday night. 'œI'm OK. I'm not worried about nothing, just praying that everything goes well.'ť

Delta hit with top winds of 100 mph (155 kph) but rapidly grew weaker. Within two hours of hitting land, it had dwindled to a Category 1 storm with 85 mph (140 kph) winds. Still, forecasters warned of life-threatening storm surge that could reach up to 11 feet (3.4 meters). Flash flood warnings were posted for much of southwestern Louisiana and parts of neighboring Texas.

In the town of Lake Arthur, Delta's winds peeled shingles off the roof of L'Banca Albergo Hotel, an eight-room boutique hotel in what used to be a bank.

'œI probably don't have a shingle left on the top of this hotel,'ť owner Roberta Palermo said as the winds gusted outside.

Palermo said the electricity was out and she could see pieces of metal coming off the roof of a 100-year-old building across the street. Unsecured trash cans were flying around the streets.

'œThere is a lot of power lines down all over the place, there's ... really deep water in certain spots,'ť said hotel guest Johnny Weaver. He had been out in the weather with his friends earlier and the friend's car was stranded in the water.

Delta's reach stretched as far west as Galveston, Texas, about 100 miles (160 kilometers) from where the storm struck Louisiana. Two homes under construction were toppled by winds, as were some trees and signs in the area. Beach dunes flattened by earlier storms allowed storm surge to reach beneath some of Galveston's raised beach houses.

Power outages in Louisiana and neighboring Texas soared past 410,000 homes and businesses Friday within hours of the storm coming ashore, according to the tracking website PowerOutage.us.

Delta, the 25th named storm of an unprecedented Atlantic hurricane season, made the record books when it struck the Gulf Coast. It was the first Greek-alphabet-named hurricane to hit the continental U.S. And it became the 10th named storm to hit the mainland U.S. this year, breaking a century-old record set in 1916, according to Colorado State University researcher Phil Klotzbach.

Forecasters predicted Delta would be downgraded to a tropical storm overnight. The storm's projected path showed it moving into northern Mississippi on Saturday and then into the Tennessee Valley as a tropical depression.

Delta was the fourth named storm to strike Louisiana in 2020. Tropical Storm Marco fizzled as it hit the southeast Louisiana tip just three days before Laura struck. And Tropical Storm Cristobal caused damage in southeast Louisiana in June.

Some who rode out Laura chose to hunker down again with Delta. In Lafayette, about 75 miles (120 kilometers) east of Lake Charles, Jeanne-Marie Gove could hear debris hitting the front door of her apartment Friday night and her patio gate banging open and shut.

'œThe wind is much worse than what Hurricane Laura brought,'ť Gove said in a message on Twitter.

The roof from a trailer at the mobile home park behind her apartment was torn off and being tossed down the sidewalk.

'œThe wind gusts are making the glass from our windows bow inward,'ť Gove added. 'œIt's pretty scary.'ť

Plaisance reported from New Iberia, Louisiana. Associated Press contributors include Melinda Deslatte in Baton Rouge, Louisiana; Gerald Herbert in Lake Charles, Louisiana; Kevin McGill in New Orleans; Seth Borenstein in Kensington, Maryland; Russ Bynum in Savannah, Georgia; Leah Willingham in Jackson, Mississippi; and Sophia Tulp in Atlanta.

Storm chaser Shaun Piegdon walks down a pier over Lake Arthur as Hurricane Delta's outer bands move into Louisiana, Friday, Oct. 9, 2020. Residents in south Louisiana braced to relive a nightmare Friday as bands of rain from approaching Hurricane Delta began soaking the same area of the state that was badly battered by a deadly hurricane six weeks ago. (Chris Granger/The Advocate via AP) The Associated Press

ADDS CITY - Danielle Fontenot runs to a relative's home in the rain with her son Hunter ahead of Hurricane Delta, Friday, Oct. 9, 2020, in Lake Charles, La. Forecasters said Delta - the 25th named storm of an unprecedented Atlantic hurricane season - would likely crash ashore Friday evening somewhere on southwest Louisiana's coast. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert) The Associated Press

Members of the Louisiana National Guard prepare beds in a shelter ahead of Hurricane Delta, Friday, Oct. 9, 2020, in Lake Charles, La. Forecasters said Delta - the 25th named storm of an unprecedented Atlantic hurricane season - would likely crash ashore Friday evening somewhere on southwest Louisiana's coast. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert) The Associated Press

Jim Fontenot carries possessions into his brother's home, to which his family temporarily relocated to ride out Hurricane Delta which is expected to make landfall later in the day, in Lake Charles, La., Friday, Oct. 9, 2020. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert) The Associated Press

Savannah LeFleur kisses, Deuce, a dog she found wandering during Hurricane Laura several weeks ago in Bell City, La., Friday, Oct. 9, 2020. The two huddle in her car port as rain from Hurricane Delta moves into the state. Residents in south Louisiana braced to relive a nightmare Friday as bands of rain from approaching Hurricane Delta began soaking the same area of the state that was badly battered by a deadly hurricane six weeks ago. (Chris Granger/The Advocate via AP) The Associated Press

American Red Cross volunteers Cindy Romig and Cliff Boyer unload supplies outside the Pike County Community Safe Room storm shelter in Magnolia, Miss., Friday, Oct. 9, 2020, ahead of Hurricane Delta's landfall. (Matt Williamson/The Enterprise-Journal via AP) The Associated Press

CORRECTS TO HUNTER FONTENOT NOT HUNTER DANIEL - Hunter Fontenot, 3, looks out the window of his uncle's house, to which his family temporarily relocated to ride out Hurricane Delta which is expected to make landfall later in the day, in Lake Charles, La., Friday, Oct. 9, 2020. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert) The Associated Press

Earnst Jack, whose home was severely damaged from Hurricane Laura, sits in his front doorway as he waits for the arrival of Hurricane Delta expected to make landfall later in the day in Lake Charles, La., Friday, Oct. 9, 2020. Debris from Hurricane Laura is piled near the street. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert) The Associated Press

The Lafleur family of Bell City, La., gathers in their garage near where a wall was destroyed by Hurricane Laura several weeks ago, as they watch the arrival of Hurricane Delta, Friday, Oct. 9, 2020. (Chris Granger/The Advocate via AP) The Associated Press

Markel Edwards and Keshontea Kenneday speak with each other in a shelter ahead of Hurricane Delta, Friday, Oct. 9, 2020, in Lake Charles, La. Forecasters said Delta - the 25th named storm of an unprecedented Atlantic hurricane season - would likely crash ashore Friday evening somewhere on southwest Louisiana's coast. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert) The Associated Press

Roslyn Kennedy holds Malaka Kennedy, 1, in a shelter ahead of Hurricane Delta, Friday, Oct. 9, 2020, in Lake Charles, La. Forecasters said Delta - the 25th named storm of an unprecedented Atlantic hurricane season - would likely crash ashore Friday evening somewhere on southwest Louisiana's coast. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert) The Associated Press

Earnst Jack moves through his home that was hit by Hurricane Laura ahead of Hurricane Delta, Friday, Oct. 9, 2020, in Lake Charles, La. Forecasters said Delta - the 25th named storm of an unprecedented Atlantic hurricane season - would likely crash ashore Friday evening somewhere on southwest Louisiana's coast. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert) The Associated Press

Standing in front of his house covered in a blue tarp from Hurricane Laura damage, Joshua Espree, 30, plans on staying in Lake Charles, La., and helping his family as Hurricane Delta approaches the area on Friday, Oct. 9, 2020. Delta is expected to make landfall late Friday. (Chris Granger /The Advocate via AP) The Associated Press

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