Zeta turns toward U.S. after making landfall as hurricane in Mexico
Zeta, the 27th named storm in the busy 2020 hurricane season, lashed across Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula late Monday as a Category 1 hurricane before weakening to a tropical storm.
The area, already ravaged by Delta just a few weeks ago, saw massive rainfall and flooding, with winds up to 80 mph, according to the National Hurricane Center.
“Nobody should be on the streets,” Quintana Roo state Gov. Carlos Joaquín warned. “You shouldn’t go out anymore.”
After crossing across the peninsula, Zeta has now shifted its trajectory back toward the Gulf Coast of the United States.
The storm sits about 45 miles east of Progreso, Mexico, and about 540 miles south of the mouth of the Mississippi River with winds up to 70 mph, according to the NHC’s 8 a.m. update.
Zeta is expected to re-strengthen into a hurricane as it swirls across the Gulf of Mexico before making landfall along the coast late Wednesday.
On its current trajectory, Zeta would be the fifth named storm to hit Louisiana this year, following Cristobal, Laura, Marco and Delta.
A hurricane warning is already in place from Morgan City, La., to the Mississippi/Alabama border and in Lake Pontchartrain, Lake Maurepas and Metropolitan New Orleans.
A tropical storm warning has been issued from Punta Allen to Progreso, Mexico, in Cozumel, and from the Mississippi/Alabama border to the Okaloosa/Walton County Line in Florida.
Forecasters warned of heavy flooding near the coast, caused by a combination of a dangerous storm surge and the rising tide, with some areas seeing surges up to six feet.
Tornadoes are also possible Wednesday in southeastern Mississippi, southern Alabama and the western panhandle of Florida.
Zeta has already broken the record for the earliest named 27th storm in a single season, more than a month earlier than that happened in 2005.
