'No one should be complacent': Here's what Louisiana officials say residents should expect from Zeta

Advocate, The (Baton Rouge, LA)

Oct. 28--Gov. John Bel Edwards said Tuesday that, despite the lateness in a seemingly endless hurricane season, residents of southeast Louisiana should heed the warnings about Hurricane Zeta.

"No one should be complacent because it is October and it feels like hurricane season should be over," Edwards told reporters. "I know we are asking folks to manage a lot but I know our people are going to be focused."

The governor made his comments roughly 24 hours before the latest storm is expected to make landfall Wednesday evening.

Winds of up to 75 miles per hour are in the forecast east and south of the New Orleans metropolitan area

Edwards said high winds remain the top concern, but forecasters are also leery of possible storm surges, locally heavy rain and possible tornadoes.

While the hurricane has slowly moved eastward, the governor said any westward movement would put much of New Orleans in line for significant impact.

He noted, as he often does, that about one-third of hurricanes arrive outside the path projected in advance by forecasters.

On the plus side, the governor said the storm is relatively fast moving -- around 14 miles per hour now and expected to be about 20 mph at landfall -- and that trims the chances for damaging rainfall.

Edwards on Tuesday requested a pre-landfall federal declaration of emergency in a letter to President Donald Trump.

"The impact of heavy rainfall, coastal flooding due to storm surge, damaging winds and potential tornadoes will pose a serious threat to the lives and property of the people of Louisiana," the letter says.

The governor on Monday declared a state of emergency, which allows state officials to make preparations and to assist local governments as they respond.

"If the current track holds, Hurricane Zeta will be the third hurricane to make landfall in Louisiana in two months and I am incredibly hopeful that President Trump will quickly approve my request for a federal emergency declaration, as he has done before," Edwards said in a statement released after his press conference.

"We are already coordinating with our federal partners to respond to Zeta, as we have since the start of the COVID pandemic and throughout the recovery from hurricanes Laura and Delta," he said.

Around 1,400 members of the National Guard are on duty for storm-related chores.

The preparations for Hurricane Zeta, like others before it, are taking place amid the coronavirus pandemic that has put a new twist on storm planning.

The state on Tuesday reported 885 new cases of COVID-19 -- the illness caused by the virus -- and 18 additional deaths, or 5,666 in all.

In his letter to Trump, the governor said the state has already spent about $900 million on the pandemic.

Testing for the virus was suspended Tuesday and will be Wednesday too in five areas because of Hurricane Zeta: New Orleans, Baton Rouge, Acadiana, the Northshore and south central Louisiana.

The Lake Charles area and other parts of southwest Louisiana are still in the early stages of recovering from Hurricane Laura, a Category 4 hurricane that struck on Aug. 27, and Category 2 Hurricane Delta, which arrived six weeks later.

A total of 3,606 state residents remain in shelters because of Hurricane Laura.

Those shelters include seven hotels, with five in New Orleans and one each in Baton Rouge and Lafayette.

The governor's office will share updates about Hurricane Zeta by texting LAGOV to 67283 and for phone calls by going to Smart911.

Edwards cautioned residents to be careful using generators after the likely loss of power in some areas.

Nine people died in generator-related accidents after Hurricane Laura.

Hurricane season lasts until Nov. 30.

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