MEXICO CITY — Tropical Storm Nate gained force as it sped toward Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula Friday after drenching Central America in rain that was blamed for at least 21 deaths. Forecasters said it was likely to reach the U.S. Gulf Coast as a hurricane over the weekend.
Louisiana and Mississippi officials declared states of state of emergency and Louisiana ordered some people to evacuate coastal areas and barrier islands ahead of its expected landfall Saturday night or early Sunday. Evacuations began at some offshore oil platforms in the Gulf.
Mississippi’s government said it would open 11 evacuation shelters in areas away from the immediate coast, with buses available for people who can’t drive.
The U.S. National Hurricane Center warned that Nate could raise sea levels by 4 to 7 feet from Morgan City, La., to the Alabama-Florida border. It had already had caused deadly flooding in much of Central America.
The center added metropolitan New Orleans and Lake Pontchartrain to its latest hurricane warning.
The storm had maximum sustained winds of 60 mph by Friday afternoon and was likely to strengthen over the northwestern Caribbean Sea on Friday before brushing by the Cancun region at the tip of Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula. It could hit the U.S. Gulf coast near New Orleans.
The storm was about 80 miles east of the Mexican resort island of Cozumel and had accelerated its north-northwest movement to 21 mph.
In Nicaragua, Nate’s arrival followed two weeks of near-constant rain that had left the ground saturated and rivers swollen. Authorities placed the whole country on alert and warned of flooding and landslides.
Nicaragua’s vice president and spokeswoman, Rosario Murillo, said that at least 11 people had died in that country due to the storm. Earlier Thursday she had said 15 people had died before later revising to say some of those were still counted as missing.
In Honduras, there were three dead and three missing, according to Oscar Triminio, spokesman for the country’s firefighters.
In Louisiana, Gov. John Bel Edwards declared a state of emergency and mobilized 1,300 National Guard troops, with 15 headed to New Orleans to monitor the fragile pumping system there.
With forecasts projecting landfall in southeast Louisiana as a Category 1 hurricane, Edwards urged residents to ready for rainfall, storm surge and severe winds — and to be where they intend to hunker down by “dark on Saturday.”
