Hurricane Delta slammed into the US Gulf Coast with a deadly storm surge and violent winds, threatening to batter an area of Louisiana still recovering from Hurricane Laura.
Delta made landfall at 6pm local time in a rural, marshy stretch west of New Orleans, as a category 2 storm with 160kph winds. It was the record 10th tropical storm or hurricane to hit the US this year.
The storm is the latest in a string of natural disasters in the country.
In California, wildfires have burned an unprecedented 4 million acres. The Atlantic, meanwhile, has spawned 25 storms this year, the second most after 2005.
Delta is weaker than the ferocious blast that Laura unleashed. But it brings flooding and a storm surge that could reach as high as 11 feet in some places.
The hurricane come ashore near Cameron, Louisiana, a tiny bayou town that's still in ruins after Laura roared through in late August.
Delta shut about 92 per cent of oil production and 62 per cent of gas output as it crossed the Gulf on Friday.
The storm will probably cause about $2 billion in losses and destruction to Louisiana, said Chuck Watson, a disaster modeller with Enki Research.
In the city of Lake Charles, 50km inland from where Delta came ashore, rain pelted the tarp-covered roofs of buildings that Hurricane Laura damaged when it barrelled through.
“It’s devastating and it’s emotional for the citizenry,” Mayor Nic Hunter said as he prepared to ride out the storm in downtown Lake Charles.
As Delta approached, winds picked up in inland areas such as Lafayette, where occasionally strong gusts buffeted trees and sheets of rain were falling. Many parishes and towns implemented curfews Friday until Saturday morning to encourage people to stay off the roads during the worst of the storm.
