Evacuations in New Orleans as storm that killed 25 approaches

New Orleans evacuated some residents from areas outside its levee system as Tropical Storm Nate swirled toward the U.S. Gulf Coast on Friday after killing at least 25 people in Central America.

Nate is set to become a Category 1 hurricane, the weakest on a five-category scale used by meteorologists, by the time it hits the U.S. central Gulf Coast on Saturday evening or Saturday night.

“Nate is at our doorstep or will be soon,” New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu said.

The greatest threat from this particular storm is not rain, but strong winds and storm surge, Landrieu said. The winds could cause significant power outages, and storm surges are projected to be six to nine feet (1.8 to 2.7 meters) high, he added.

“We have been through this many, many times. There is no need to panic,” Landrieu told a news conference.

Later on Friday, the storm is expected to brush by Mexico’s Yucatan peninsula, home to beach resorts such as Cancun and Playa del Carmen, before heading north into the Gulf of Mexico, according to the U.S. National Hurricane Center in Miami.

Nate was blowing maximum sustained winds of 70 miles per hour (113 kmh) and was about 500 miles (805 km) south-southeast of the Mississippi river on Friday evening, the NHC said.

Source: Reuters